Copal
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2008-06-25T12:08:57Z
Faizhaider
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Added : {{Jewellery Materials}}
{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Copal with insects.jpg|right|thumb|250px|a copal with few [[termites]]]]
'''Copal'''(Copaifera officinalis) is a type of [[resin]] produced by [[plant sap|plant or tree secretions]], particularly identified with the forms of aromatic [[tree]] resins used by the cultures of [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]] as a ceremonially burned [[incense]], as well as for a number of other purposes.<ref>Stross (1997).</ref> More generically, the term ''copal'' is now also used to describe resinous substances in an intermediate stage of [[polymerization]] and hardening between more viscous and 'gummy' resins and [[amber]].<ref>Platt (1998).</ref>
The word ''copal'' is derived from the [[Nahuatl language]] word ''copalli'', meaning "[[incense]]". To the pre-Columbian [[Maya civilization|Maya]] and contemporary [[Maya peoples]] it is known in the various [[Mayan languages]] as '''pom''' (or a close variation thereof), although the word itself has been demonstrated to be a [[loanword]] to Mayan from (proto-)[[Mixe-Zoquean languages]].
It is sometimes likened to, or substituted for, [[amber]] and put in [[jewellery]].
Copal is still used by a number of [[indigenous peoples of Mexico]] and [[Central America]] as an [[incense]], used during cermonies such as the "sweat lodge" ceremony. It is available in different forms. The hard, amber-like yellow copal is a less expensive version. The white copal, a hard, milky, sticky substance, is a more expensive version of the same [[resin]].
==Notes==
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==References==
* {{cite web |author={{aut|Platt, Garry}} |year=1998 |title=Types of Amber, Copal & Resin |url=http://www.gplatt.demon.co.uk/typesof.htm |work=Amber Home |accessdate=}}
* {{cite book |author={{aut|Stross, Brian}} |year=1997 |chapter=Mesoamerican Copal Resins |chapterurl=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/copal.htm |title=U Mut Maya VI |editor=''in'' Carolyn Jones and Tom Jones (Eds.) |location=Arcata, CA |publisher=Humboldt State University |format=online reproduction |pages=pp.177–186 |accessdate=}}
* {{cite web |author={{aut|Wichmann, Søren}} |year=2006 |title=A Mixe-Zoquean Loanword in the Late Preclassic Murals of San Bartolo? |url=http://www.mesoweb.com/articles/wichmann/Loanword.pdf |format=[[PDF]]|work=Mesoweb articles |publisher=Mesoweb |accessdate=}}
{{Jewellery Materials}}
[[Category:Art materials]]
[[Category:Resins]]
[[Category:Mesoamerican society]]
[[Category:Natural history of Mesoamerica]]
[[Category:Incense]]
[[Category:Fossil resins]]
{{tree-stub}}
[[de:Copal (Baumharz)]]
[[es:Copal]]
[[eo:Kopalo]]
[[fr:Copal]]
[[id:Kopal]]
[[it:Copale]]
[[pl:Kopal]]
[[pt:Copal]]