Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)

From: Eric Stevens (eric.stevens_at_sum.co.nz)
Date: 06/24/04 

Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:19:47 +1200

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 22:57:04 GMT, ke4zv@bellsouth.net (Gary Coffman)
wrote:

>On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 15:36:41 -0400, Yuri Kuchinsky <yuku@trends.ca> wrote:
>>Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
>>
>>Greetings, all,
>>
>>Here's a brief review of a new volume about Native American
>>copper.
>>
>>_________________
>>
>>_Miskwabik, metal of ritual: metallurgy in precontact
>>Eastern North America_, Amelia M. Trevelyan.
>>Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, c2004.
>>
>>("Miskwabik" is an Ojibwa word for "copper".)
>>
>>Description:
>>Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual examines the thousands
>>of beautiful and intricate ritual works of art—from
>>ceremonial weaponry to delicate copper pendants
>>and ear ornaments—created in eastern North
>>America before the arrival of Europeans. The first
>>comprehensive examination of this 3,000-year-old
>>metallurgical tradition, the book provides unique
>>insight into the motivation of the artisans and the
>>significance of these objects, and highlights the
>>brilliance and sophistication of the early
>>civilizations of the Americas. Comparing the ritual
>>architecture and metallurgy of the original
>>Americans with the ethnological record, Amelia M.
>>Trevelyan begins to unravel the mystery of the
>>significance of the objects as well as their special
>>functions within the societies that created them. The
>>book includes dozens of striking color and black
>>and white photographs.
>>
>>Amelia M. Trevelyan is Professor and Chair of Art
>>History at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.
>>
>>_________________
>>
>>And here's a revealing quote from the above volume, p. 15.
>>
>>"Metallurgical testing and observation indicate that native
>>copper was primarily cold-worked in precontact times and
>>forged rather than cast. However, because the temperatures
>>necessary for melting as well as smelting copper are
>>comparatively low, the latter was probably a technical
>>possibility."
>>
>>So here we see the political bias in American archaeology
>>laid out for all the world to see.
>>
>>1. She doesn't even mention any of the available scientific
>>evidence indicating that, in precontact times, much copper
>>was cast rather than cold-worked and forged.
>>
>>It may simply be plain ignorance on her part, but we
>>shouldn't also discount a possibility that she's
>>deliberately excluding any evidence that is not in accord
>>with her anti-Native political bias.
>>
>>In any case, the name Mallory (a qualified engineer, and the
>>leading researcher in this area) is not mentioned in her
>>bibliography at all.
>>
>>2. Yet she admits these things "were probably a technical
>>possibility". How generous of her!
>>
>>So here we see the sort of an anti-Native bigotry that is
>>still all too common within our professional archaeological
>>establishment. These folks really still live in the middle
>>ages!
>>
>>What a dark snake-pit of racism and bigotry our academic
>>establishment is... This never ceases to amaze me, I must
>>say.
>>
>>This is the Dumbing-Down Crew that is hard at work to deny
>>the cultural achievements of Native Americans.
>
>Realize that casting is primarily a technique used for cheap mass
>produced items.

With respect, that is nonsense. Casting is a technique which is used
to make shapes and structures which cannot be easily made any other
way.

>It allows relatively low skilled workers to produce
>large numbers of relatively complex identical items.

You do them a disservice to describe them as "low skilled". The work
is difficult and dnagerous, and it took centuries to develop the
techniques.

>Cold working is
>a much more challenging, and artistically unique, way to produce
>intricate copper ceremonial items. The smith has to have a higher
>level of skill than the foundryman to produce equally complex work.

Which is why the people who know how to melt and cast copper use that
technique rather than straight smith-work.

>
>Given that, it seems to me that your claims of bigotry by a art
>historian are unfounded. If anything, the idea that the art objects
>were produced by cold work makes them even more impressive
>examples of the skill of the worker than if they were mere castings.

I think you are missing the point, and so too may be the art
historian. There seems to be evidence that some copper items were
cast. From what I have read, the cast products would not generally
qualify as 'art' and for that reason have understandably been ignored
by art historians.
>
>But that said, casting pure copper is a bitch.

This from the guy who has just written that the task can be undertaken
by low-skilled workers?

>Porosity is the enemy,
>even for modern copper founders. They charge a hefty premium for
>low porosity castings. Alloying the copper to make bronze improves
>matters *enormously*, and production of such alloys was a huge
>technological leap forward for the casting industry.
>
>*If* the Native Americans of millenia past made the technological
>leap of producing bronze alloy, it would be a significant achievement
>(as it was when Old World artisans did it). But I've seen no evidence
>produced in this thread that the ancient Native Americans made
>such a technological leap forward.
>
>The artifacts described appear to all be relatively pure native copper.
>As such, the *intelligent* way of working the material would have
>been smithing rather than casting. So if the motive were to make
>ancient Native Americans appear stupid, then claiming that they
>used open casting techniques would be the method of choice to do
>so. Now ask yourself which side of the argument is making that
>claim.

Neither. The claim merely is that some copper items have been cast.

Eric Stevens

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... >ceremonial weaponry to delicate copper pendants ... >the cultural achievements of Native Americans. ... Realize that casting is primarily a technique used for cheap mass ... *If* the Native Americans of millenia past made the technological ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... >>ceremonial weaponry to delicate copper pendants ... >>the cultural achievements of Native Americans. ... >Realize that casting is primarily a technique used for cheap mass ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... >>necessary for melting as well as smelting copper are ... >>the cultural achievements of Native Americans. ... > technological leap forward for the casting industry. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... >> intricate copper ceremonial items. ... >believe that casting wasn't done. ... (Bronze is a different matter, of course, but there still has been ... binary alloy listed as suitable for casting. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... > Virtually all of the evidence presented to date in this thread is ... > against casting of ancient Michigan native copper artifacts. ... We see TWO artefacts being claimed as being cast - one being conceded ...
    (sci.archaeology)