INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY 1o^7 WINTER 1 998 THE BULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIANON FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY 95 oence FREE TO MEMBERS OF AIA South Atlantic lA o Napier engineering o Honduran mines o TICCIH piers o Ferranti o Wey barges o education o regional news Honduran mining complexes of the sixteenth century Pastor G6mez this period, which was also the time when mining exploitation started. INDUSTRIAL This anicle (translated by Elanca Martin) outlines Mining activity was at first usually limited to HAEOLOG the historical background and potential value of washing gold in alluvial deposits, where forced studying the sixteenth-century industrial native labourers used rudimentary technology. The NEWS rO7 archaeological heritage of two Honduran districts: original Spanish conquerors started to look for Santa Lucia Tegucigalpa and San Lorenzo other income sources when alluvial deposits Winter 1998 Guazucardn. both of which have documented became over-exploited and the indiginous soutces. population, already declining, came under the President protection of the Spanish Crown. Dr Michael Hanison In November 1995, the Honduran Institute of The discovery of silver deposits near 19 Sandles Close, The Ridings, Droitwich Spa WR9 8RB Anthropology & History (lnstituto Hondureno de Comayagua (then the seat of colonial government) Vice-President Antropologla e Historia) carried out archaeological marked the beginning of industrial mining Dr Marilyn Palmer School of Archaeological Studies, The University, Leicester surveys in San Lorenzo Guazucardn, in the exploitation in the country. lt was in 1569 that the LEl 7RH municipality of Ojojona, where a colonial mining first silver minerals in the district of San Lorenzo Treasurer complex was found. 5urveys in nearby areas Guazucar6n were worked. Later discoveries, such Michael Messenger showed many remains of this type throughout the as Agalteca (1 576) and Santa Lucia Tegucigalpa 1tl4 take Road East, Roath Park, Cardiff CF2 5NQ central region of Honduras. (1 578), led to the creation of the Alcaldia Mayor Secretary The old mining districts of Santa Lucia de Minas de Tegucigalpa (the Mining Mayorship Paul Sillitoe Tegucigalpa and San Lorenzo Guazucardn are of Tegucigalpa) which covered several thousand 2 Oaken Clough Terrace, Limehurst Ashton-under-lyne, in over 14 indian Lancashhe OL7 9NY located on the high central lands of Honduras, square kilometres, including the outskirts ofthe actual capital city, Tegucigalpa. villages, a Spanish town and abundant mineral lA Review Editors Both districts are 1,000 metres above sea level, deoosits. Peter Neaverson and Dr Marilyn Palmer School of Archaeological Studies, The University, leicester with a warm climate and annual rainfall which In 1590, Honduras was visited by a commission LEl 7RH assures permanent water courses that can operate of the Spanish Crown with orders from Felipe ll to lA News Editor hydraulic machinery. Pine trees dominate the area, find out about the possibility of transfening the Dr Peter Stanier and were used as construction timber for engines Spanish Navy of the Viceroyalty of Peru from 49 Breach Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8LF and charcoal for blast furnaces. The geology of the Panama to Honduras. However, they also had Conference Secretary region is complex and rich in volcanic materials orders to visit the Tegucigalpa silver mines and Janet Graham and mineral veins of hydrothermal origins. report on their quality. 107 Haddenham Road. leicester [E3 2BG During the sixteenth century, the Spanish This commission documented 14 mining Affiliated Societies Liaison Officer Crown expanded its domains on the American complexes in the country, 1 1 ofthem in Santa Lucia Gordon Knowles continent through private initiative of its Tegucigalpa and three more in San Lorenzo 7 Squinels Green, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Suney the KT23 3LE subjects. This was how Honduran territory became Guazucar6n. There were 1 72 black slaves and 79 pan of the colonial empire. Although the conquest forced native labourers employed in these Sales Officer Roger tord of Honduras began in 1524,it was not completed complexes, each of which processed the minerals Bam Cottage, Eridge Street Bridgnorth, Shropshire until 1550. Indian rebellions were common durinq of uo to five mines. All had blast furnaces and the WV15 5AF Publicity Officer Anne Alderton 48 Quay Stee! Halesworth, Suffolk lPl9 8EY , GUATEMALA Fieldwork and Recording Award Oflicer ," HONDURAS I Shane Gould l"- Archaeology Advisory Group, Planning, Essex County EL\ N Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex CMl ILF SALVADOR Honorary Vice-Presidents HONDURAS Prof Angus Buchanan Sir Neil Cossons John Hume Stuart B. Smittl Council Members D, Alderton Dr V. Beauchamp Dr R. J. M. Can M Coulter TEGUCTGALPA D. Cranstone J. Crompton tr I SantaLucia D. Eve (coopted) J. Harrison (co-opted) ,t i- A. Parkes J. Powell o P. Saulter (co.opted) 5 Warburton - - '- Guazucar5n i oJoJoNA ,' c. whittaker N. Wright (co-opted) \ --\a\t T. & M. Yoward (co-opted) , I I Liaison Officer ELSALVADOR t lsabel Wilon AIA ffice, School of Archaeological Studies, University of ) twcnaeeue Leicestel Leicester LEI 7RH. I 0116 252 5337 " Far 0116 252 5005, email: A|[email protected] , , COVER PICTURE , Re-excavation at the Lagan Canal's lock 12 at Lisburn, Nofthern heland (see page 14) Photo: Nl Envionnent and Heritaoe Seruice Location of the Santa Lucia Tequcigalpa and ian Lorenzo Guazucardn mining districts of Honduras 2 INDUSTRIALARCHAE9L9GYNEWS 107 majority had some kind of mineral processing mill. Three complexes had hydraulic mills for grinding the ore. Seven were operated by mules, in two the mineral was ground by hand, and only two complexes had no grinding mill. The machinery activated iron hammers, each weighing about 60 lb, which ground the minerals to a dust for further processing. The ground mineral was sieved and, depending on the quality, was separated from the ore by smelting or by amalgamation with mercury. This last method was first applied in Mexico after 1 555. The construction of hydraulic and animal- powered engines, furnaces and the use of the amalgamation method implied a technical knowledge that the first colonists did not have. lt was broughtto the area by Diego Xudez, a master engine-maker, miner and carpenter, who arrived in Honduras at the end of the sixteenth century. A document shows that a certain Diego Xudrez, official of engines, skilled in the exploitation of gold and silver mines, left Sevilla for Peru in 1569. Though it remains to be confirmed, it seems likely that this is the same person. Section of the watet canal, built with rubblework, at Blast furnace of the Guazucardn comolex ln 1574, Diego Xudrez was employed to make Guazucardn Photo: Pastor G6mez Photo: Pastor Gdmez the engines for the recently discovered mines of San Lorenzo Guazucardn, where he was also in charge of running the mining production. Before mines were still being exploited. He pointed out the historical documents related with them, and 1 580, he made two other engines for the Agalteca that a mill used by miners in Guazucar5n was the probable existence of remains that have been mines. The discovery of mines in Santa Lucia moved by mules, and another one in Santa Lucia preserved. Therefore, this would be a suitable area Tegucigalpa around that date also demanded his had a hydraulic mill. for preliminary research and a possible services. The ruins of a mining complex were found by conservation project of Honduran industrial In 1 580, Xu6rez and a Spanish partner signed the bank of the Ingenio River during the heritage. contracts to exploit a mining operation in Santa archaeological survey in Guazucar6n. These ruins Lucia Tegucigalpa, both men contributing black included a dam which altered the course of the slaves and sharing the right to exploit several river, canals for the water, the remains of a mines. Apparently, these enterprises encouraged hydraulic mill, some processing tanks and a Xudrez to settle there with his family. furnace, which the locals know as 'El Chimbo'. When the royal officials visited Tegucigalpa in The toponymy has kept the memory of the AD\IIERTISE IN 1590, Xudrez was the owner of a mining complex mining activites of that time in the area. An that included a hydraulic mill for mineral grinding, example of this is the name of the river where the IA NEWS a furnace, a forge and a mill for grinding wheat. ruins lie: 'Rio del Ingenio' (Engine River). In As his five slaves did not mine enough ore to utilise addition, the historian Mario Felipe Castillo points IA News reaches a wide his hydraulic engine to capacity, Xudrez offered out that the word 'chimbo' was once used for blast readership through direct his services to other miners of the area, for whom furnaces. The slag found around the oven of subscriptions, circulation to he processed ore by grinding and amalgamation. Guazucardn confirmed that its use was related to a,ffiliated organisations and This engine maker's knowledge determined the mineral processing. All the structures of the site use in libraries. rentability of the Honduran mining industryto such were made of cobblestone. brick and mortar. There an extent that the officials of the Spanish Crown are no visible remains of either the machinery or The market reached will be refened to the province as properous during the the roof of these structures because most were attractive to publishers, tour I 590s. made of wood. Other mining complexes in the area operators, heritage At the beginning of the seventeenth century, were not visited due to time limitation. consultants and visitor mining production declined for several reasons. In conclusion, two facts might relate these attractions. One was the lack of capital to invest in mines, ruins with the complexes of Guazucardn during the another was the difficulty in supplying mercury 1 570s. The first is that the complex described and Advertising rates range from from Spain due to the European wars, while a the mines of San Lorenzo Guazucardn are very as little as €3O to €17O for a labour shortage added a third problem to the similar, and the second is that the Ingenio River is full page.