The stone extraction at Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan in the Pre-Columbian period Osiris Quezada Ramrez-ENAH In pre-Colonial times, the

removal of rocks, either for construction or for the manufacturing of utensils, sculptures, or votive objects, was a complicated process that required a certain degree of specialization. In the specific case of construction, this activity required knowledge of the physical properties of materials for their optimum use. How the stone would be worked depended on which part of the building it was intended for. This resulted in variation in the appropriation and the manufacturing of the rock. Moreover, an understanding of the environment was of vital importance. Through this the availability of raw materials in the area was identified; the routes of communication could be traced; and the means of transportation, which would take the raw materials from the extraction site to work area, could be determined. To approach the process of the transformation of the building materials of Templo Mayor, from their extraction, modification, and use in the building, we conducted an ethnographic record of work in two quarries, where materials with a mineralogical composition similar to those used by the Mexicas in the ceremonial precinct, are being extracted. The ethnographic work allowed us to document the technical aspects related to the procurement of stone. The information derived from this record was handled with caution, bearing in mind at all times that we did not try to make an analogy one by one. The building materials of Templo Mayor, which have a lithologic origin, have been characterized petrographically as ignea extrusive rocks. In order of presence, vytrophyre pyroxene basaltic (volcanic stone) is the most abundant. It was used to build

walls, floors, and staircases, and as construction fill. Volcanic rock was followed by basalt vytrophyric and by pyroxene basalt (basalt), mainly used as construction fill. The lamprobolita andesite or pink stone was used in the corners of walls, floors, and staircases. Pyroxene andeseite was primarily used in the foundation and floors. To develop this exhibition we selected only two materials: lambrobolita andesite and basalt. Lamprobolita andesite is an extrusive igneous rock with shades of pink and a porphyritic texture. It is fluid in nature, a quality that allows the pseudostratification of the rock. This aspect can be observed macroscopically in veins of different shades. The deposits of andesite lamprobolita closest to Tenochtitlan are in Sierra de Guadalupe. Among the mountains that make up this sierra are Chiquihuite, Tianguillo, Tenayo, Gordo, and Botano. The samples taken from the hill Tenayo were compared with the ones from Templo Mayor, and this establishes that the Mexicas (Aztecs) extracted the rock used in the construction of the Huey Teocalli from this region. Gonzlez Aparicio explains that the current Calzada Vallejo was Calzada of Tenayocan, which crossed from Tenayuca to Tlatelolco, something that probably facilitated the transportation of stone coming from this locality. Meanwhile, Lpez Lujn and Torres indicate that elevations mentioned before were on the shores of Lake Texcoco, about 12km from Tenochtitlan, a very convenient location (situation) for the hauling of material across the lake. Basalt is a volcanic igneous extrusive rock, in which dark gray and black colors dominate. Its texture is aphanitic, so it is difficult to distinguish at a glance the minerals that form it. And it is distinguished for being fine-grained, by having a vesicular structure, and for being very compact, heavy, and hard. The basalt deposits closer to the study area are located in Peon de los Baos, Sierra de Santa Catarina, and

Chimalhuacan. However, the areas with more abundant basalt deposits are south of the Basin of Mexico in the Pedregal of San Angel and Xochimilco. The latter was a province from which Tenochtitlan received tribute goods. The pre-Hispanic population used the rock outcrops in the vicinity of the basin for construction. There are also documents and pictographs of the sixteenth century. For example, the Codex Osuna depicts the extraction of stony fields (deposits) to build houses and temples during colonial times. These deposits (stony fields) are still being extracted for the obtainment of building materials. Such is the case of San Bartolo Tenayuca quarry located in the municipality of Tlanelpantala of Baz in the State of Mexico, north of Mexico City, where lamprobolita andesite is currently being extracted. The second quarry is known with the name of San Juan Totoltepec and it is located in the town of Ecatzingo, within the limits of the states of Puebla, Morelos and the State of Mexico, south of the Valley of Mexico. Basalt of black quarry is extracted from this quarry as appointing by local people, and it is used to elaborate sculptures and grinding stones, and to obtain material for construction. In San Bartolo Tenayuca the extraction technique of rock starts with the selection of the rock. Subsequently, the quarrymen drill a 5cm hole to a depth of 2m, into which they put an explosive charge. The drilling of the rock is done manually, and it can take four to five days to complete. The main aim of the insertion of dynamite is to release several large blocks of rocks at the same time. Once the fragments are separated from the rock, blocks are selected for primary grinding. This involves removing manageable stone sections for carving. In this first stage, the quarryman locates the fracture zones in the rock, which are located in the veins that cross the stone horizontally, and that allow the

easy removal of pieces of material. In this phase of work, the material is not yet ready to be used, because these are still very large stone segments. Once the rock is broken into pieces that are easy to handle, the procedure is repeated for the secondary grinding. The secondary grindings objective is to obtain manoeuvrable parts with a suitable size. At this carving stage, the final cut of the rock is made, and the pre-forms, whose differentiation is going to be based on the use that they will have later, are obtained. These can be used for foundation (the larger and more irregular), floor, and facade (the thinnest). The stonemasons (stonecutters) make the separation of material of each block of stone at the end of the secondary grinding. In the quarry of San Juan Totoltepec, the extraction technique and carving are similar to the work done by the stonemasons (stonecutters) in Tenayuca. However, in the mine of San Juan Totoltepec, the quarrymen remove the rocks manually from the boulder. That is, they use a wooden or metal crowbar to dislodge the rocks. Among the tools used by stonemasons (stonecutters) in both quarries, we can mention: wedges, mallets, hammers, and crowbars. Although we lack sufficient archaeological evidence, in reviewing the data recorded by the chroniclers, and the materials found at Templo Mayor, we can infer that the process of appropriation and carving of the tezozonqui were approximate to those described above. The profession of quarryman is described by Sahagun, who says that those devoted to the work of stonemasons (stonecutters) had to be proficient in carving any kind of stone; they also had to know how to grind, to corner, to crack with a wedge, to make bows, and to artfully sculpt the rock.

Book X of the Florentine Codex shows the process of pre-hispanic mining, from which we propose the existence of similarities between the pre-hispanic procedures and modern techniques of stonework. The picture shows a group of individuals carrying out various tasks in a quarry. In the upper part of the picture we clearly notice that three characters seem to be separating stone blocks from the rock. In the same image, on another level, it is possible to distinguish some stonemasons (stonecutters) grinding a large piece of rock. The cracking of the block coincides with the primary reduction, which is done at present time, after the release of the stone. At the bottom of the picture two characters stand, apparently preparing a pre-form from the base of a column. The making of pre-forms from stone objects in the field is an activity that has been documented by various researchers. For example, Susan Gillespie points out that during archaeological excavations in the quarry of Llano del Jicaro in the Cintepc Mountain, Veracruz, preforms of sculptures from the Formative period were found along with tools and debitage. With regard to working tools, in the aforementioned image, it is possible to appreciate a character holding a sort of hammer or mallet, with which he is striking a block of stone. At the bottom of the lithograph, there are some tools similar to those used today to grind stone, such as wedges and chisels. In some Oaxaca sites, Nelly Robles reports the presence of cutting tools like picks, mallets, and hammers, which come from excavations at quarries at Mitla. For his part, Sahagun said that the stonemasons (stonecutters) used wedges to crack the stone. Duran reports the use of ropes, levers, and other tools to remove blocks of stone matrix. The transportation of the stone was performed by the use of canoes. The prevalence of this system is due to two aspects: the established routes through different parts of the region that allowed the entry and exit of all kinds of goods,

and due to the canoes load capacity. Hassig estimates that a tlameme could carry a maximum load of 23 kilograms over a distance of 21 to 28 kilometres a day. In contrast, a canoe could carry about 1200 kilograms, depending on the size, in the same working day. Thus, transport capacity was multiplied nearly 50 times, and facilitated the arrival in Tenochtitlan of a wide range of both edible products and those for construction. With regard to the exploitation of the rock, little archaeological evidence has been preserved that could show the work by the Mexicas in quarries. Fortunately, in the historical sources we have some descriptions, along with ethnography and data from other archaeological sites, allowing us to infer that the stone went through at least two reduction stages for the obtainment of pre-forms, which were placed almost without changes in the building. Note the usefulness of petrographic and chemical studies to characterize the rock types and determine the physical qualities. As discussed in the next chapter, the physical properties of the lithologic materials were a determining factor in the selection and arrangement of stone by builders, in specific areas of the building. Also, this analysis allowed the identification of building material banks, and to sustain the idea that the materials were obtained, in most cases, from sites next to Tenochtitlan.