Abstract

MAGANA JATTAR, Mónica. Técnicas de manufactura de los pectorales huaxtecos de concha en forma de triángulo invertido. Cuicuilco [online]. 2015, vol.22, n.63, pp.135-169. ISSN 0185-1659.

This paper presents the results obtained from the study of the manufacturing techniques used to elaborate the Huaxtec shell pectorals with an inverted triangle shape from the Anthropological Museum of Xalapa (MAX), Veracruz, Mexico. As a key methodological aspect, we must highlight the fact that the experiments were designed to reproduce the preform of the Huaxtec pectorals, and that the work was carried out through the use of tools and procedures which were contextually acceptable and applied to a Turbinella angulata snail shell, commonly known as the West Indian chank shell. The markings on the shell, due to specific manufacturing techniques, were studied by way of the micrographic analysis technique, on both the preforms generated by the experiments and on the original archaeological samples. To do this, it was necessary to imprint the archaeological pieces on a thin, flexible polymer film, so as to analyze them under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). As a result, it was possible to obtain micrographs that allowed a deeper analysis and comparison of the marks and imprints left by the manufacturing process used on the different shells, in such a way as to allow us to make inferences regarding the type of tools that could have been used to make the original pectorals. Besides contributing to the solution and understanding of a problem that has caught the interest of Huaxtec experts for many years, this research is also intended to promote the study of the pre-Hispanic shell objects in Veracruz, as well as to encourage the application of experimental techniques for the development of archaeological research in Mexico.

Keywords : Huaxtec; pectorals; shell; micrographs; experiments.

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