68.43.17, lead musket ball, 15 millimeters (0.6 inch) in diameter
Found at San Gabriel de Yunque (A.D.
1598–1610)
UNM field school collection
Photograph by B. Bernard
When the Spanish first came to New Mexico, they hoped for great mineral
treasures. Mostly they were disappointed, but the new colony did have
ready sources of lead ore. The Pueblo potters had been using that
ore (in particular, the sources in the Cerrillos Hills south of Santa
Fe) to create black paint on their pottery since the early 1300s.
We know that after 1700 the Spanish took over the Pueblos' lead sources in
the Cerrillos hills, forcing native potters to switch to new paint
recipes. What we don't know, yet, is whether before 1700 the Spanish
colonists relied on lead imported from Mexico, or whether they began
mining and smelting lead ore within a few years of their arrival.
Archaeologists can identify lead sources through mass spectrometry, so
items such as this musket ball will allow us to document the
early years of the Spanish-native competition over lead.
That's a scientist's point of view. For a Native American, a lead musket ball made by a Euroamerian colonist inspires a very different response.
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