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Two new trace element analyses have taken a fresh look at obsidian mirrors crafted by Inca and Aztec artisans.

Two new trace element analyses have taken a fresh look at obsidian mirrors crafted by Inca and Aztec artisans. Obsidian was most often used by peoples around the world to make flaked stone tools such as prismatic blades and arrow heads, yet with special care the glassy material can also be polished smooth to create remarkable objects. To stare into the depths of a polished obsidian mirror, is to step into a world of inky black reflections that seems to never end. This shadowy world has spurred centuries of speculation and occult fascination surrounding pre-Columbian obsidian mirrors. At long last, material scientists are shining some light into that world.

In the most recent issue of the journal Latin American Antiquity, Thomas Colligaro and his colleagues published a paper on their study of an alleged Inca obsidian mirror in the collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. It had long been presumed that this mirror was part of a shipment of spoils sent from Mexico to the Emperor Charles V of Spain by the conquistador Hernán Cortez, which was then intercepted by a French privateer. A thorough document review by the researchers, however, suggested that the mirror may instead have been collected by a French expedition to Ecuador in the mid-18th century.

To confirm their documentary findings, the researchers carried out a particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis of the mirror in order to identify trace elements found in the object’s mineral structure. By comparing the trace elements found in the mirror with the characteristics of known obsidian sources, the researchers attempted to trace where the original raw material had been collected. With the presence of small amounts of manganese, rubidium, and zirconium found in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle’s mirror, Colligaro and his colleagues were able to rule out all known Mexican sources of obsidian. Instead, the composition of the mirror more closely resembled two obsidian deposits found in Ecuador.

PIXE analysis of the obsidian mirror held by the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (No. 176.101).

Thus, the combined documentary evidence and trace element analysis strongly suggest that the object originated in Ecuador. Whether or not it was ever associated with the Inca empire, is more difficult to say. An 18th century note accompanying the mirror stated that it had been found “in the tombs of the Incas in Peru,” but by the time the mirror was collected by the French expedition, the Inca empire had long since dissolved in the face of European epidemic diseases and colonial occupation.

A second obsidian mirror, held by the British Museum in London, presents us with yet more intrigue. While the British Museum’s mirror has long been assumed to have originated in Mexico, it is more famously associated with a man named John Dee. Dee was a 16th century astrologer and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. It is allegedthat Dee used his Aztec mirror to peer through the veil into the spirit world beyond.

Yet even a court magician’s magic mirror can give up its secrets to scientific analyses. In a recent conference presentation, Yaroslav Kuzmin reported the results of an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer analysis carried out on Dee’s mirror. In this case, the object’s Mexican origin was confirmed with the trace elemental composition matching an obsidian source found at the site of Pachuca in central Mexico.

Photo of archaeologist Elizabeth Healey with John Dee's obsidian Mirror.

YAROSLAV KUZMIN

How this mirror came into Dee’s possession, however, is still not fully understood. Kuzmin notes that Dee was well connected with political and intellectual leaders, and in particular that “he was acquainted with sir William Pickering, the British ambassador to the court of Emperor Charles V.” Thus, setting aside how the mirror made it from Mexico to Europe, it may have come to Dee via the ambassador; but, Kuzmin adds that “we cannot exclude the fact that British pirates intercepted a Spanish caravan of ships with gold and jewels from Mexico.”

While Dee’s interest in the esoteric powers of this obsidian mirror would have undoubtedly been stoked by the object’s foreign origin, we know that the Aztec themselves also placed great ritual importance on these objects. Obsidian mirrors were closely associated with the deity Tezcatlipoca, whose name translates as “Smoking Mirror.” In depictions of the deity, one of his feet is typically replaced with an image of a circular obsidian mirror, not dissimilar from the mirror in the British Museum’s collection.

(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) prehispanic america, high culture regions, mexico, mesoamerica: art objects, religion: Codex Borgia (Aztec/Mixtec,

ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES

The scientific analyses of both mirrors provide precise insight into where the raw materials originated. Such analyses are vital to fill in the gaps left behind by the documentary record. Yet, ultimately it is only with the documentary record that we can come to some understanding of what these objects meant to the people who held them in their own hands. Shadow filled obsidian reflections can beguile all of our minds, but careful comparisons between humanistic and scientific sources of information will always reveal a clearer picture.

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