The value of money: Historical and archaeometrical analysis of coins from hacienda San Pedro Cholul, Yucatan, México

The archaeology of coins is a multidisciplinary approach advocated to the understanding of the context, functions, life histories, and the agency themes that those material objects evoke. Since 2009, the Historical Archaeology Project at Hacienda San Pedro Cholul has recovered a collection of more t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of archaeological science, reports reports, 2024-05, Vol.55, p.104500, Article 104500
Main Authors: Hernández Álvarez, Héctor, Reyes Trujeque, Javier, Silva León, Isabel, Arceo Gómez, David, Manrique Ortega, Mayra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coins
Debt peonage
Haciendas tokens
Metallography
XRD
XRF
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The archaeology of coins is a multidisciplinary approach advocated to the understanding of the context, functions, life histories, and the agency themes that those material objects evoke. Since 2009, the Historical Archaeology Project at Hacienda San Pedro Cholul has recovered a collection of more than 80 metallic coins from the excavation of domestic floors within three workers' houses. With historic information, and the aim of different numismatic sources, we have identified different types of coins regarding its value, characteristic decoration, year of coinage and the metal used in its manufacture. This collection ranges in temporality from the second half of the nineteenth century through the twentieth century, period of development of this henequen plantation in the northeastern part of Merida city. One of the most interesting pieces of the collection is a token, dating from 1857, that was used as payment for labor, and as a form of debt, inside the Yucatec haciendas. Until now, we did not know exactly the material used to fabric these tokens and their provenance. To deal with those issues, we implemented an archaeometrical analysis on five coins and the token using Metallography, X-Ray Fluorescence analysis, and X-Ray Diffraction, to study their chemical composition, microstructure and composition of mineral phases formed due to degradation of these historic materials. The aim of these analyses is to complement the information dealing with the metallic composition of the selected coins and the token, and to contribute to the discussion regarding the circulation of money and debt peonage during Yucatan’s Gilded Age.
ISSN:2352-409X
DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104500