Copal 170384 221638517 2008-06-25T12:08:57Z Faizhaider 1922408 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== {{reflist|1}} ==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]]