Mesoamerican copper aided colonial weaponry - Printable Version

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Mesoamerican copper aided colonial weaponry - Kyng - 03-31-2020

http://news.mit.edu/2020/mesoamerican-copper-smelting-colonial-weaponry-0331

When Spanish invaders arrived in the Americas, they were generally able to subjugate the local peoples thanks, in part, to their superior weaponry and technology. But archeological evidence indicates that, in at least one crucial respect, the Spaniards were quite dependent on an older indigenous technology in parts of Mesoamerica (today’s Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras).

The invaders needed copper for their artillery, as well as for coins, kettles, and pans, but they lacked the knowledge and skills to produce the metal. Even Spain at that time had not produced the metal domestically for centuries, relying on imports from central Europe. In Mesoamerica they had to depend on local smelters, furnace builders, and miners to produce the essential material. Those skilled workers, in turn, were able to bargain for exemption from the taxes levied on the other indigenous people.

This dependence continued for at least a century, and perhaps as long as two centuries or more, according to new findings published in the journal Latin American Antiquity, in a paper by Dorothy Hosler, professor of archeology and ancient technology at MIT, and Johan Garcia Zaidua, a researcher at the University of Porto, in Portugal.

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This is quite fascinating: the Spanish may have possessed many technological advantages over the peoples whom they conquered, but it seems that they didn't have everything their way!

Which makes me wonder: what might have happened if the indigenous peoples had just refused to cooperate?

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