Prof. Dorothy Hosler

Professor Hosler's research generally examines the extraction, processing and production of copper and copper based alloys in ancient Mesoamerica and South America and the relation of these technologies in the two areas to each other. Her primary research currently is at the site of El Manchón, Guerrero, in West Mexico, where extensive copper smelting activities took place. She and her colleagues are currently working on dating the smelting area of that site. They are also examining the production of a variety of unusual prehispanic copper-based alloy objects recently excavated in the state of Mexico. Her general interests in production extend to rubber production in ancient Mesoamerica and to construction technologies and to the relation among technologies in Mesoamerica and northern South America.

Current Research in Guerrero -- Professor Hosler's 1998 survey of the Balsas region of Guerrero identified six metalworking sites, the most significant of which is La Barrranca de la Fundiciones (see Hosler 2003a, b). This site is located at 1400 meters in the Sierra Madre del Sur de Guerrero. The site covers about 1 kilometer and consists of three physically distinct areas: two zones contain long low rectangular structures (3-8m long) that may have served as house foundations or for other activities. Copper smelting took place in a third physically separate area where large accumulations of slag and disturbed furnace structures appear. We have completed excavations of one furnace structure and currently are analyzing the slag in the laboratories at MIT. Initial dates from both the smelting area and from the mounds suggest occupation around 1200–1300AD. Ethnic affiliations of these people cannot yet be determined but we expect excavations during the subsequent seasons may clarify this issue. La Barranca de Las Fundiciones is the first ancient copper-smelting site yet identified in Mesoamerica.

Other Research -- The Spring 2008 issue of the Journal of Anthropological Research reported research on oceangoing rafts and traderoutes in pre-Columbian South and Central America; this research was performed by Professor Hosler and Leslie Dewan, former MIT undergraduate (see the MIT News Office for the full story, March 19, 2008). Leslie Dewan is currently a MIT Ph.D. student in the Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering.

A facsimile raft conforming to original dimensions and made from original materials was constructed at MIT as a component of the laboratory class, Materials in Human Experience. The raft was launched in the Charles River in Spring 2009.