Mercury mines at Almadén, gitanos, forzados and slaves (part 2 or 3)

Since mining mercury was so dangerous, why was anyone willing to engage in it?

That's a simple one to answer.  In the 16th through the 19th century, all the most dangerous work was done by prisoners - called "forzados" - and slaves.  This meant that the ordinary, free, miner might survive the experience.  In addition, free miners could stop work for a while if they noticed signs of mercury poisoning, which allowed the mercury to be expelled from their bodies.  Prisoners and slaves could not.

By the end of the 19th century, advancing knowledge about what caused and how to avoid mercury poisoning made the mining much safer.  In addition, there was no more slavery, and prisoners were no longer condemned to the mines.

Ruins of prison cells today, seen from above.  They were very small.

The mines were extremely important to the Spanish crown.  Spain was involved in almost constant warfare during this period and the wars were paid for from loans advanced by a wealthy German aristocratic family.  The product of the mines of Almadén were dedicated to paying off these loans, or at least the interest on them.

The slaves used in the mining were people sent there by their masters as punishment.  The prisoners were just ordinary people caught up in the law.  Starting in the 18th century and perhaps before, gitanos were sent to the mines on 20 year sentences simply for saying they were gitano, or for speaking their Romani language.  There were enough of them so that one section of the older part of the mine is named "the gitano shaft."

A model of the prison.

Other people were condemned to work in the mines for having committed crimes - sometimes petty crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread, and sometimes serious crimes, such as murdering their neighbor.

There was a large prison complex to house these unfortunate people.  They wore chains day and night.  They were chained inside their cells when in the prison and for most of this period, they went from the prison to the mines by way of a tunnel, so that they never saw the light of day.

Inside a cell, with an iron ring for attaching to the prisoner's chain.

Inside the mines and the refinery, they were sometimes chained to their tasks, especially if the work were really dangerous.

And for gitanos sentenced to those 20 years of hard labor, when the 20 years were up, they were not released because they were considered homeless vagabonds, and you could only be released if you could prove that you had a fixed home to return to.

NEXT EPISODE to appear on Sept. 27.

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We are working on a documentary (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva (Flamenco:  the Land Is Still Fertile) in which we plan to film a scene down in these mines.   Keep up with our progress by going to this LINK.

Mexico´s indigenous civilizations - the Aztecs (part 2 of 3)

Back to the Aztecs´ pyramids and human sacrifices.

According to Aztec mythology, the human sacrifices were necessary in order to keep the sun going around in the sky.  The sun god was considered very weak, and he needed help to move the sun.  Human sacrifice was the only way to provide this help.  

A priest for the sun god (also the god of war) sacrifices to the deity.

If you were sacrificed, there was an important consolation:  you became a deity upon dying - and that was a whole lot better than becoming a wandering ghost, which is what was said to happen to some people.  Still, I can´t imagine many people volunteering.

To put human sacrifice in context:  it's a pretty horrible thing, but it was certainly not unique to the Aztecs.  It was practiced by almost all of the early civilizations in Central and South America, as well as in many other parts of the world (including probably in Europe).  

We should also remember that at the time the Aztecs were practicing it, the Europeans had their Inquisition, and later, their guillotines and revolutions and, of course, the concentration camps of the Nazis.   In the United States we remember the witch hunts, slavery of blacks, and massacre of Native Americans;  Asians had their revolutions and conquests, etc., etc. and Africans had their....you get my point...

The gigantic Pyramid to the Sun was sacred to the Aztecs, even though it was built by other people more than a thousand years before the beginning of the Aztec Empire.

Back to the Aztecs:  another thing you should know about them is that they really loved playing ball.  Their favorite ball game was called ullamalitzli.  It had religious and political overtones, but still, it was a ball game.  Only aristocrats were allowed to play, and people bet heavily ... not only putting up money, but also land, ceremonial feather, and even their own children.  In fact, sometimes people would give themselves up as slaves in order to pay off a debt incurred by losing at a game.

That is to say, they REALLY loved the ball game.

Aztec cities would always have a ball court as part of the holy, ritual part of town. 

The most important aspect of the game was that the ball could not be allowed to touch the ground.  Ever.
And in the Aztec version, the players couldn´t touch the ball with their hands, or their feet, or their legs, or their chests:  only their knees, elbows, heads and hips.

An "I" shaped Aztec ball court for ullamalitzli.  There are two players at each end.

The game was played not only by the Aztecs but by most other ancient Mexican civilizations including the Maya, the Olmec, the Toltec, and others.  Its origins pre-date the Aztecs by more than a thousand years!  

The object of the game was to get the ball to go through a hole in a stone ring at the side of the ball court.  This was so difficult that some ball courts didn´t even bother with the ring, it apparently being assumed that it would be impossible to get the ball to go through it.

If neither team got the ball through the hole in the ring, the winner would be chosen according to which side got the highest number of points.  One way to get lots of points was to get the ball to hit one of six markers built into the sides of the court. 
 
NEXT EPISODE will appear on Sept. 20.
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In our documentary-in-progress, Strong Roots, Bright Flowers:  Arts of Mexican Immigrants and Chicanos, we interview an Aztec drummer and watch part of an Aztec ceremony to learn more about Aztec culture. Keep up to date on our progress by going HERE. 

Mercury mines at Almadén (part 1 of 3)

In early July of this year (2014), I had the pleasure of passing through a town in central western Spain called Almadén.  It´s home to a very famous mercury mine, a mine that reputedly has supplied humanity with one third of all the mercury ever used by mankind.

It was in existence for over 2,000 years, closing down very recently, in 2001.

But first, a few words about Almadén.  It´s a charming town, small enough so that not only is there no airport but the train doesn´t even stop there.  Instead, it stops at a station between Almadén and another town, called Alamadenejos.

Looking out from the train station.

 
Obviously, since the mercury mine was in operation for over 2,000 years, someone has lived in the area for over 2,000 years.  There´s not much left of earlier peoples (although a nearby city, Merida, has impressive Roman ruins as well as evidence of the Visigoths and others) but it does have a tiny, former Moorish outpost as well as a nice medieval Spanish church and things of that sort.

Former Moorish outpost.  There´s a stork´s nest on the top.

The mines, themselves, first came into their own during the Roman period.  Before that, mining was done mostly on the surface but the Romans started digging shafts into the stone.


Mercury has been used for centuries to separate silver from the ore in which it is found, allowing the silver to be purified, but the Romans didn´t know that use and didn´t use it for that purpose.  Instead, they used it as a coloring agent.  The red color of many of the frescoes in places like Pompeii is in fact ground-up mercury.

Cart with unrefined mercury ore.

The next main civilization to rule the area after the Romans were the Moors, and they DID know about the ability of mercury to purify silver.  They enlarged the mines and make extensive use of them.  After the Spanish reconquest of the area, the ability of mercury to combine with gold was discovered and mercury-based gold amalgams became common as well for guilding the domes of the major cathedrals in Europe.

In the old days, mining was all done by hand, with picks and hammers.  Miners were lowered into the chambers by hanging onto the same leather pouches that were used to bring the ore up from the bottom.  It was extremely dangerous work.

Leather pouches like these lowered miners into the shafts and also brought up the ore.

It was dangerous for many reasons including the long-term effects of breathing mercury vapor.  These include a slow killing off of the lungs, insanity, and a nerve disorder which leads to uncontrollable muscle spasms (similar to "St. Vitus´ dance) and ends in coma followed by death.  Neither the lung contamination nor the nerve disorder lead to a pleasant death.

In modern times, enough was known to allow the mining company to take preventative measures against these disorders.  Serious problems became rare and were immediately treated.

NEXT EPISODE will appear on Sept. 13.

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We are working on a documentary (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva (Flamenco:  the Land Is Still Fertile) in which we plan to film a scene down in these mines.   Keep up with our progress by going to this LINK.

Mexico's indigenous civilizations - the Aztecs (part 1 of 3)

Mexico had a long and rich history before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.   There were the Aztecs, the Maya, the Mixtecs, the Olmecs, the Toltecs...and probably many others, but those are the ones whose names I know.

The Aztecs are probably the most famous.  It´s when Hernán Cortés conquered them that the modern history of Mexico officially begins.

Aztec calendar

That event took place in 1621, a LONG time ago.  It happened within a year of the death of the last great emperor of the Aztecs, Montezuma (or Moctezuma) II. who Cortés captured and who died while a captive...either killed by Cortés or by his own people, depending on which version you read.

The Aztecs are famous for building great pyramids, and for engaging in human sacrifice.  The extent of this human sacrifice was greatest in the last 50 years of their rule by which time thousands of people a year were killed in this manner, many of them captives of war.  This is only one thing which made them very unpopular with their neighbors.  Another was their relentles conquering, followed by demanding immense quantities of tribute from those who they conquered.

Aztec deity spearing a woman.

This is why it was relatively easy for Cortés to turn around and conquer THEM.  He only had 150 soldiers at his disposal, but he had the aid of over 100,000 warriors from the Aztec´s neighbors.

Another thing that made the conquest relatively easy was a smallpox epidemic which inflicted the Aztecs right after Montezuma II was killed.  Smallpox had been introduced to the area just a few years earlier by the Spaniards.

NEXT EPISODE will appear on Sept. 6.

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In our documentary-in-progress, Strong Roots, Bright Flowers:  Arts of Mexican Immigrants and Chicanos, we interview an Aztec drummer and watch part of an Aztec ceremony to learn more about Aztec culture. Keep up to date on our progress by going HERE.

Still no Relief

There's still no relief for the "long-term unemployed" who have lost their benefits, and the number of those without benefits has grown.  About 1/3 of the unemployed are considered "long-term unemployed" (out of work for more than 6 months).  This means close to 4 million people, many trying to support a family.  Add to this the 2.2 million "disengaged unemployed" or\"discouraged unemployed" (people who want a job but have given up on getting one), also without benefits, and you have a bad, bad situation.    

Link: 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/grassroots-action-key-unemployment-insurance-101500769.html 

Semana Santa & Catholic processions in Jerez de la Frontera (part 2 of 2)

This is a small paso, but allows you to see the Christ figure in a little detail.  Many processions start in the afternoon and go on all night.  Some start at midnight and continue on until mid-day the next day.  All of the have a set route, and all of them pass through the cathedral, where they are blessed by the bishop.

You can see the front of a procession towards the rear of this photo.  In front, there is a cart with various candies, and other snack food.  These events are religious but are also a time to celebrate ones' cultural heritage, and many people feel free to enjoy themselves with their families, drinking beer or a glass of wine in a local bar, buying sweets for the kids, etc.

 

With a very few exceptions (where, for example, the brotherhood presenting the procession has taken a vow of silence), the processions are also accompanied by a band.  There are lots of drums but also (see towards the background) a sizeable brass section and flutes, etc.

Here is a close-up of another paso, one dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  She always seems to be accompanied by massive and beautiful candles (which are lit at night), and she wears a very heavy, velvet brocade cape that trails behind her, nearly touching the ground.  Remember that the entire paso is being carried on the shoulders of guys, so for the train to nearly touch the ground means a long, long train.

And that's enough for Semana Santa for this year.  Happy Easter if you're Christian, and have a good day if you're not.