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Ceramic Molds for Mixtec Gold: a New Lost-Wax Casting Technique from Prehispanic Mexico

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Abstract

The basic principles of lost-wax casting, a metallurgical technology invented independently in the Old and New World, are relatively well understood. Yet researchers across the globe still struggle to explain technological variability in this process, which has important ramifications for understanding the origin, development, and spread of lost-wax casting. This paper reports the discovery of an assemblage of ceramic molds that were utilized to make internal clay cores for lost-wax casting at Tututepec, a Late Postclassic (AD 1100–1522) capital located in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The molds enabled artisans to make highly standardized hollow metal artifacts, such as beads and ornaments, that served as adornments for high status individuals. Lost-wax casting, including internal core technology, initially spread to Mesoamerica from the Isthmo-Colombian Area, yet no molds similar to those found in Oaxaca have been reported from these “donor” regions. Interestingly, core technology was also an important component of lost-wax casting in many areas of the Old World. Thus, the analysis presented here will contribute to comparative studies of lost-wax casting worldwide. Furthermore, this study introduces evidence for metal production from household excavations to examine the social context of metalworking in Oaxaca. The results challenge the once prevalent assumption that Oaxacan metallurgy was the exclusive domain of rulers, and instead strongly suggests that elites and commoners collaborated in this enterprise. Finally, the evidence presented here also confirms Tututepec’s role as an important goldworking center in Postclassic Mesoamerica.

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Notes

  1. Prior to the widespread adoption of metallurgy in Mesoamerica, metal imports from the Isthmo-Colombian Area are reported from a number of sites (e.g. Coggins and Shane 1984; Hosler and Cabrera 2010; Pendergast 1970).

  2. The ceramic molds were first noted by researchers in 1997 (Rosanna Woensdregt, personal communication) and later in 2000 (Arthur Joyce, personal communication), when they were still in possession of the collector. Shortly thereafter, the molds were donated to the Museo Yucusaa and later registered and marked by the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). In July of 2017, I visited the collector’s home in central Tututepec and she led me to the area where the molds were discovered. All of the molds were found in the same general area, eroding down a steep slope adjacent to her house. The collector also showed me a large number of diagnostic Late Postclassic potsherds, figurine fragments, and other artifacts that were found in the same area as the molds. The archaeological context, as well as the evidence for weathering and use-wear on the molds indicate they are prehispanic and date to the Late Postclassic Period. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that there is or has been any local industry specializing in modern artifact reproductions at Tututepec. The exact location (i.e. GPS coordinates) of the molds’ discovery is not published here to protect the site.

  3. Although highly unlikely, to account for the remote possibility that the molds dated to an earlier period, they were also compared to ceramics from previous phases from the lower Río Verde region. This search failed to find any clear matches.

  4. One mold (Fig. 2, C) has an unidentified black residue on its interior surface.

  5. “False-filigree” refers to a technique where artisans used thin wax threads to create designs that was later replaced by metal during the lost-wax casting process. This effect is often mistaken for true “filigree,” where thin metal threads are soldered in place.

  6. The exterior, non-casting surfaces of the molds also appear slightly glossy, probably from a sealant or preservative applied after they were donated to the Museo Yucusaa.

  7. This reconstruction builds on Sahagún’s description and corresponding illustrations of lost-wax casting in the Florentine Codex. I also draw on critical reflections of Sahagún’s work provided by Caso (1969), Easby (1956, 1957, 1969) and Long (1964).

  8. For casting hollow objects with openings like that present on the belly of this frog, Ogden (2000, p. 159) explains that supports were not required “because the core would have been in direct contact with, and thus held in place by, the surrounding investment.”

  9. In Colombia, researchers have successfully dated carbonized core material recovered within hollow gold artifacts (Plazas 1998, p. 4).

  10. Referring to gold frogs from Tututepec, Saville (1920, p. 173) notes that “at least six similar objects were found in the same grave [at Tututepec].” One is currently in the AMNH and at least three are at the MNAH.

  11. Measured from nose to posterior, the mold impression is 27 mm, whereas the AMNH frog is only 17 mm long.

  12. Each of the MET frogs measure approximately 22 mm in length.

  13. The MARI object (Cat. No. 31–2397) is currently on loan to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The style of the ornament suggests it was made in the greater Oaxaca area, although it is attributed to “Guatemala” in the MARI accession records.

  14. The gold jaguar heads have the following catalog numbers: Dumbarton Oaks (Cat. No. PC. B. 110), the National Museum of the American Indian (Cat. No. 10/2599) and the Ethnologisches Museum of Berlin (Cat. No. 40955).

  15. This gold “double insect pendant” is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Cat. No. 1991.419.27).

  16. Similar copper buttons with a more domed shape are reported from Early Postclassic contexts at Lamanai in Belize (Simmons and Shugar 2013a, Fig. 6.2) and from West Mexico (Quintana Cruz 2014, p. 198).

  17. Gold beads from Oaxaca made via lost wax casting can have exceedingly thin walls of less than 1 mm in thickness. Understandably, these can be mistaken for cores covered with gold leaf, but this is probably not true in many cases (see La Niece and Meeks, 2000, Fig 11.19).

  18. Ceramic data and linguistic evidence indicate links between the Oaxaca-Puebla area of Mexico and Nicaragua. In fact, McCafferty and Steinbrenner (2005:283–284) contend that the Chorotega migrated from Cholula (Fig. 1) to Nicaragua around AD 800. Like Mixtec, Chorotega is an Oto-manguean language and polychrome pottery from Nicaragua exhibits iconographic elements common to Early Postclassic Mixteca-Puebla style pottery (see also Steinbrenner 2010, p. 524–527).

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Acknowledgements

I thank the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) for providing permits for my research at Tututepec. I also thank the volunteer staff of the Museo Yucusaa, especially Alberto Pérez Gazga, who facilitated access to the ceramic molds and other artifacts. I am also indebted to Jose Luis Ruvalcaba and Niklas Schulze, who carried out the PIXE analysis of copper objects from excavations at Tututepec. Niklas Schulze generously shared his knowledge of prehispanic metallurgy for which I am very grateful. John Swogger produced the illustration of lost-wax casting and working with him helped sharpen my thinking about this process. Adam Sellen and Carlos Rincón Mautner brought citations to my attention that were important in the formation of this article. Charles Spencer provided access to metal artifacts in the AMNH collection. Arthur Joyce and Rosanna Woensdregt generously provided unpublished information from their respective fieldwork at Tututepec. I also thank Chip Colwell, Arthur Joyce, Patrick Livingood, Michael Mares, Asa Randall, and Niklas Schulze for reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this paper. I also thank Liz Paris for sharing unpublished photographs of metal artifacts and for inviting me to present a paper at a metallurgy-themed session at the 2017 Society for American Archaeology meeting. In this SAA session, I received valuable feedback from the session discussants, Dorothy Hosler and Aaron Shugar. Scott Simmons and several anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments and suggestions that improved the text. Any errors or lapses in judgement presented here, however, are my responsibility alone.

Funding

Research on the Tututepec ceramic molds and gold artifacts in museum collections was supported by the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and a Junior Faculty Summer Fellowship from the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences. Household excavations at Tututepec were funded by a Fulbright-García Robles Scholarship, a grant from FAMSI (#05031), an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant (#0508078), and support from the University of Colorado Graduate School and Department of Anthropology.

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  1. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK, 73072, USA

    Marc N. Levine

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Levine, M.N. Ceramic Molds for Mixtec Gold: a New Lost-Wax Casting Technique from Prehispanic Mexico. J Archaeol Method Theory 26, 423–456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-018-9377-z

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