70 INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY—PUBLICATION NO. 7 
southern and northern drainages of the lower 
Balsas (Guerrero). However, the mines of 
Inguardn in the northern drainage of the lower 
Balsas in Michoacdin were the main source of the 
metal. Smaller deposits, such as those of Sinagua, 
were gophered over a wide area. The villages 
of La Huacana, Jicalin, Sinagua, and possibly 
Tzatzio appear to have been the chief pre-Colum- 
bian copper refining centers.'” 
Needing copper for the manufacture of brass 
cannon, the Spaniards quickly levied tribute in 
copper bars on various pueblos in the Balsas and 
Tepalcatepec Basins. Later, adventurers (in the 
name of the Crown) took over the native mines 
at Inguard4n, probably introducing European 
smelting techniques. The main 16th-century 
Spanish smelting and refining center was Tzatzio, 
10 miles each of Ario. This center was located 
within pine and oak forests, which afforded raw 
materials for charcoal, and was near the chief 
highway from P&tzcuaro to the tierra caliente. 
Copper ore and probably native copper was car- 
ried by Indians to Tzatzio from the Inguardn 
mines, which lay 15 miles to the south (AGN 
General de Parte, vol. 5, ff. 311-313, 1601). 
Tzatzio was probably an ancient copper center, 
and the experienced Tarascan metallurgists were 
retained by the Spaniards to continue with Euro- 
pean methods. Before the end of the 16th century 
the Spanish Crown had established an asiento 
in the Michoacéin copper industry, in order to 
insure a steady supply of metal for the foun- 
daries in Mexico City.! Between 1607 and 1614 
187 The Suma de Visitas, ca. 1540, state that the Spaniards exacted tribute 
of copper bars from La Huacana and Jicalén (Paso y Troncoso, 1905, vol. 1, 
pp. 123, 294). Moreover, every 20 days 20 Indians of Coyuca carried copper 
bars to Mexico (ibid., p. 80). Coyuca, located near the confluence of the 
Balsas and Cutzamala Rivers, may have been a collecting point for small lots 
of copper refined in various pueblos of the middle Balsas drainage. At the 
end of the 16th century copper was still being mined, refined, and made into 
tools at Sinagua (Mus. Nac., leg. 102, Rel. de Cinguacingo). Tzatzio was one 
of the first Spanish copper smelting centers in the area, and was probably 
an old Tarascan center as well (AGI Aud. de México, leg. 258). In passing, it 
should be noted that the old La Huacana was located near the Inguar4n 
mines. In 1759 the town was destroyed by the eruption of Jorullo, and a new 
settlement, the La Huacana seen on modern maps, was established near 
Tamacuaro 15 miles west of the old site (AGN Historia, vol. 73, ff. 392-394) 
188 Under the asiento, or contract, system, control of various industries was 
farmed out to private individuals. In the ease of the copper industry of 
Michoacin, administrative control was purchased from the Crown for 6-year 
periods. The administrator was obliged to furnish the Government a stipu- 
lated amount of copper annually at a fixed price. In 1599 an official survey 
was made of the copper industry in Michoacin. The surveyor recommended 
that owing to forest depletion around Tzatzio and the consequent difficulty 
in charcoal supply, refining operations should be moved to Ario, near abun- 
dant pine forests (AGI Aud. de Mexico, leg. 258). It is doubtful that this 
move was made, since in 1607 copper was still being refined at Tzatzio (Zavala 
and Castello, 1939-46, vol. 6, p. 166). 
official copper refining operations had shifted 20 
miles northward to Santa Clara (Villa Escalante), 
which has remained the copper center of Michoa- 
cin to this day (AGN Mineria, vol. 22, exped. 3). 
In addition to copper bars for the royal artillery, 
the colonial administrators established the manu- 
facture of caldrons and other copper vessels, 
which they sold to all parts of New Spain (AGN 
Historia, vol. 73, ff. 389).1 Colonial copper 
production, however, was not limited to the royal 
refineries at Santa Clara, for as late as 1789 
braziers were still being made by native copper- 
smiths at Jicalén (AGN Historia, vol. 73, f. 366). 
Moreover, some copperwork was done in Pa&tz- 
cuaro throughout the colonial period.! 
Today the sole survivors of the former Tarascan 
copper industry are some 30 mestizo copper- 
smiths in Santa Clara, where the renowned casos 
(caldrons), vases, and bowls are still manufac- 
tured. Ore or native copper is no longer refined; 
instead, scrap copper is purchased, melted down, 
and cast in earthen molds. Sixteenth-century 
hand bellows are still used to force an air draft; 
charcoal is employed for fuel. The cast vessel is 
finished and hardened by alternate annealing and 
hammering. 
Ironworking.—With its concomitant tools (bel- 
lows, hammers, anvils, tongs, etc.), ironworking 
was introduced into Tarascan economy early in 
the 16th century. Curiously, one Sierra village, 
San Felipe de los Herreros, became the foremost 
ironworking center of Michoacén during the 
colonial period and the early 19th century. In 
1644 bridle bits, spurs, locks and keys were 
fashioned and marketed in surrounding Spanish 
and mestizo towns (Basalenque, 1886, vol. 1, 
p. 467). As late as 1851, 68 families (practically 
the entire town) were professional smiths, supply- 
ing the countryside with plow tips, hoe blades, 
axheads, woodworking tools, etc. In 1946 three 
169 During the 17th century Tarascans from all parts of Michoacin were 
forced to work in the Inguara4n mines and the fwndiciones at Santa Clara. 
Most of the fundidores came from the tierra caliente and from the tierra fria 
towns of Zirosto and Patzcuaro (Zavala and Castello, 1939-46, vol. 6, p. 166; 
vol. 7, p. 240). In 1789 there were 8 copper refineries at Santa Clara, each 
operated by 30 to 40 men (AGN Historia, vol. 73, f. 389). 
160 The Relacién de Patzcuaro of 1581 (p. 47) mentions “‘herreros y calderos.”” 
Basalenque (1886, vol. 1, p. 451), writing in 1644, states that copper bells were 
made in Patzcuaro. As late as 1862 (Romero (1862, p. 7) writes of PAtzcuaro 
coppersmiths, who were refining ore from Inguarén and Churumuco. Several 
new copper deposits in Michoacan were exploited during the last quarter of 
the 18th century, e. g., the mines of Apupato, near the old site of Urecho 
(AGN Historia, vol. 73, f. 888) and those of Chirangangueo, near Tusantla, 
south of Zitacuaro (AGN Mineria, vol. 62, exped. 1; Martinez de Lejarza, 
1824, p. 92). 
