Date:

Obsidian blade linked to Coronado’s expedition to find the fabled city of gold

Archaeologists suggest that a flaked-stone obsidian blade could be linked to the expedition led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to search for the fabled city of gold.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who led an expedition from what is now Mexico to present-day Kansas from 1540 to 1542.

- Advertisement -

Coronado was searching for Cibola, also known as the Seven Cities of gold, which according to legend was a fabled province that held vast cities constructed from gold.

The legend may have its roots in a Portuguese myth about seven cities founded on a mythical rectangular island called Antillia in the Atlantic Ocean, as depicted in the 1424 portolan chart of Zuane Pizzigano.

However, most reports about Cibola originate from shipwrecked survivors of the Narváez expedition, a failed colonial enterprise to establish settlements and garrisons in the Florida area in 1527.

The obsidian blade was found in the region of the Texas panhandle, which according to researchers from the Southern Methodist University (SMU) was likely dropped by a member of Coronado’s expedition, that included people indigenous to Mexico.

- Advertisement -

A spectrometer analysis of the blade’s chemical composition reveals that it originates from the Central Mexico’s Sierra de Pachuca mountain range, where indigenous people used obsidian to produce cutting tools until the Spanish conquest.

SMU anthropologist, Matthew Boulanger, said: “This small unassuming artefact fits all of the requirements for convincing evidence of a Coronado presence in the Texas panhandle.”

“It is the correct form of artefact, it is fully consistent with other finds, the correct material, found in the correct location, and there are no indications of an intentional hoax,” added Boulanger.

Further studies have traced the path of the expedition passing through the United States by studying other examples of central Mexican obsidian blades discarded by the expedition members.

Header Image Credit : Alamy

Sources : Southern Methodist University – Artefact could be linked to Spanish explorer Coronado’s expedition across Texas Panhandle.

- Advertisement -
spot_img
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 7,500 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
spot_img

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

Soldiers’ graffiti depicting hangings found on door at Dover Castle

Conservation of a Georgian door at Dover Castle has revealed etchings depicting hangings and graffiti from time of French Revolution.

Archaeologists find Roman villa with ornate indoor plunge pool

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Cultural Heritage have uncovered a Roman villa with an indoor plunge pool during excavations at the port city of Durrës, Albania.

Archaeologists excavate medieval timber hall

Archaeologists from the University of York have returned to Skipsea in East Yorkshire, England, to excavate the remains of a medieval timber hall.

Archaeologists find traces of Gloucester’s medieval castle

Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology have uncovered traces of Gloucester’s medieval castle in Gloucester, England.

Treasure hoard associated with hermit conman found in Świętokrzyskie Mountains

A treasure hoard associated with Antoni Jaczewiczar, a notorious hermit, conman, and false prophet, has been discovered in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in south-central Poland.

Underwater scans reveal lost submerged landscape

Researchers from the Life on the Edge project, a collaboration between the University of Bradford and the University of Split, has revealed a lost submerged landscape off the coast of Croatia using underwater scans.

Buried L-shaped structure and anomalies detected near Giza Pyramids

A geophysical study by archaeologists from the Higashi Nippon International University, Tohoku University, and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), have detected an L-shaped structure and several anomalies near the Giza Pyramids using geophysics.

Archaeologists search for traces of the “birthplace of Texas”

As part of a $51 million project, archaeologists have conducted a search for traces of Washington-on-the-Brazos, also known as the “birthplace of Texas”.