Abstract
Literature from the post conquest shows that the Mayans used copal resins in their religious celebrations and ceremonial rites, specially as a sahumerio material. Historical precedents have been fully documented, establishing its use in the calendar ceremonies performed by the Aztecs towards their agricultural practices, mainly for the corn crop; and that according to the registries of sacred figures of their gods, they were made out of copal resin. Abundant fragments of this resin were found in a number of offerings at the digging of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. These facts indicate the intensive use of the copal as a link with divinities of life, maintenance and fertility, among many other aspects of existence, as stated by the Mexicas cosmos view. In order to determine the possible origin of the different types of copal, small samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, both from Chichen Itza and the pre hispanic from Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Results show a great similarity between each absorption band, the one from Templo Mayor and the modern sample Bursera bipinnata and the one from Chichen Itza and the modem resin of Protium copal. This suggests that the pre hispanic copal form Chichen Itza was obtained
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Montufar L, A;
[1]
Gutierrez W, C E;
Mendoza A, D;
[2]
Torres M, A
[3]
- Subdireccion de Laboratorios y Apoyo Academico INAH, Moneda No. 6, Col Centro, 06060 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)
- ININ, Carr. Mexico-Toluca s/n La Marquesa, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico)
- Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM, A.P. 20-364 01000 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)
Citation Formats
Montufar L, A, Gutierrez W, C E, Mendoza A, D, and Torres M, A.
The copal of the Chichen Itza offerings and of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan; El copal de las ofrendas de Chichen Itza y del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan.
Mexico: N. p.,
2006.
Web.
Montufar L, A, Gutierrez W, C E, Mendoza A, D, & Torres M, A.
The copal of the Chichen Itza offerings and of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan; El copal de las ofrendas de Chichen Itza y del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan.
Mexico.
Montufar L, A, Gutierrez W, C E, Mendoza A, D, and Torres M, A.
2006.
"The copal of the Chichen Itza offerings and of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan; El copal de las ofrendas de Chichen Itza y del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan."
Mexico.
@misc{etde_21034800,
title = {The copal of the Chichen Itza offerings and of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan; El copal de las ofrendas de Chichen Itza y del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan}
author = {Montufar L, A, Gutierrez W, C E, Mendoza A, D, and Torres M, A}
abstractNote = {Literature from the post conquest shows that the Mayans used copal resins in their religious celebrations and ceremonial rites, specially as a sahumerio material. Historical precedents have been fully documented, establishing its use in the calendar ceremonies performed by the Aztecs towards their agricultural practices, mainly for the corn crop; and that according to the registries of sacred figures of their gods, they were made out of copal resin. Abundant fragments of this resin were found in a number of offerings at the digging of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. These facts indicate the intensive use of the copal as a link with divinities of life, maintenance and fertility, among many other aspects of existence, as stated by the Mexicas cosmos view. In order to determine the possible origin of the different types of copal, small samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, both from Chichen Itza and the pre hispanic from Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Results show a great similarity between each absorption band, the one from Templo Mayor and the modern sample Bursera bipinnata and the one from Chichen Itza and the modem resin of Protium copal. This suggests that the pre hispanic copal form Chichen Itza was obtained from the Protium copal tree. (Author)}
place = {Mexico}
year = {2006}
month = {Jul}
}
title = {The copal of the Chichen Itza offerings and of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan; El copal de las ofrendas de Chichen Itza y del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan}
author = {Montufar L, A, Gutierrez W, C E, Mendoza A, D, and Torres M, A}
abstractNote = {Literature from the post conquest shows that the Mayans used copal resins in their religious celebrations and ceremonial rites, specially as a sahumerio material. Historical precedents have been fully documented, establishing its use in the calendar ceremonies performed by the Aztecs towards their agricultural practices, mainly for the corn crop; and that according to the registries of sacred figures of their gods, they were made out of copal resin. Abundant fragments of this resin were found in a number of offerings at the digging of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. These facts indicate the intensive use of the copal as a link with divinities of life, maintenance and fertility, among many other aspects of existence, as stated by the Mexicas cosmos view. In order to determine the possible origin of the different types of copal, small samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, both from Chichen Itza and the pre hispanic from Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Results show a great similarity between each absorption band, the one from Templo Mayor and the modern sample Bursera bipinnata and the one from Chichen Itza and the modem resin of Protium copal. This suggests that the pre hispanic copal form Chichen Itza was obtained from the Protium copal tree. (Author)}
place = {Mexico}
year = {2006}
month = {Jul}
}