death of a ruler the gold artifacts would have been gathered
up and buried.
Th e earliest-known use of metals in the Americas was in
the Central Andes in about 1500 b.c.e. Subsequently, metal-
lurgy spread into southern Peru, Bolivia, and Chile and into
the north to Ecuador and Colombia. In South America the
mining and extraction of gold and the production of gold ob-
jects were closely related to geographical, social, and histori-
cal circumstances. Th e discovery of gold and copper sources
led to local production among the people of Chavín de Huán-
tar in northern Peru (900–200 b.c.e.). Such was also true of
the peoples of Malagana (300 b.c.e.–300 c.e.), Calima (1000
b.c.e.–1600 c.e.), Tolima (200 b.c.e.–1000 c.e.), and Tumaco–
La Tolita (200 b.c.e.–500 c.e.) in southwestern Colombia.
Gold was discovered in rivers and streams. Th ese placer
deposits came in the form of nuggets and fl akes that were
usually not pure gold but were mixed with silver and other
metals. South Americans were not insistent on fi nding pure
gold; rather, their metallurgy developed out of what metals
were available to them. Fine metalwork appeared when there
were agricultural surpluses and a stable social order with a
powerful elite group, thus resulting in a demand for gold ob-
jects for ritual use and as emblems of status and the need for
full-time artisans. Another important factor in providing the
setting for the production of gold objects was a complemen-
tary ceramic technology. Technological sophistication was
required to build refractory furnaces and create crucibles and
molds that could withstand the heat of molten metals.
Gold was the metal most worked in South America. It
is exceedingly malleable; the ancient Americans could ham-
mer fl akes, chunks, or ingots into fl at sheets. Gold would not
harden with cold hammering, and its ductility (capability
of being easily fashioned) made it possible for smaller gold
sheets to be hammered together to form a large sheet. Two
fi nal characteristics made gold highly valued: Gold has the
color and refl ective light of the sun, and it is resistant to cor-
rosion.
Copper was used as an alloy with gold. Before the ar-
rival of the Spaniards it was mined horizontally, not in verti-
cal shaft s. Veins of copper, usually on mountainsides, would
have made their appearance on the surface as copper car-
bonates, malachite (green) or azurite (blue). Th e bright col-
ors appealed to the ancient Americans, and the stones were
excavated along the vein. Th e malachite or azurite was pul-
verized and mixed with granulated charcoal and placed in a
crucible over fi re. Using blowpipes to increase the intensity of
the heat, the ancient Americans burned away the carbonates
as gases and were left with the melted copper in the bottom
of the crucible.
Th e Chavín produced gold sheets, and from these sheets
they formed crowns, face masks, pectorals, and ornaments
that were sewn onto clothing. Th e Chavín used soldering
to create three-dimensional objects, an indication that they
were using alloyed metals. Th e Chavín goldsmiths were re-
markably adept at repoussé. Th is technique required the ap-
plication of the design by hammering on the reverse side of
the gold sheet.
From 500 b.c.e. to 500 c.e. the peoples of southwestern
Colombia developed a unique gold-working tradition in a re-
gion where gold was much more plentiful than copper. Trade
among the sites of the area—Malagana, Calima, Tolima, and
Tumaco—led to shared metallurgical technology. Colombian
goldsmiths used sheet metal to produce cutout human fi g-
ures, tweezers, face masks, and hanging plaques. Th ey cov-
ered shells and ceremonial wooden staff s with gold foil. Th e
goldsmiths were adept at creating three-dimensional, hollow
metal fi gures and lime fl asks by soldering together pieces of
gold sheets. Goldsmiths used embossing to provide these
complex fi gures and receptacles with distinctive curvilinear
and geometric surface designs. Pectorals and masks exhibit
extraordinary detail in repoussage.
Unique to Malagana is the grand variety of beads pro-
duced in gold, copper and gold alloy, rock crystal, and colored
stones. Beyond the simple tubes and spheres are naturalistic
and abstract renditions of birds, animals, and insects. Some
of the larger beads are hollow spheres with surface decora-
tion, possibly sewn onto clothing. Th e goldsmith hammered
two small sheets of gold over a doming block, enhanced them
with embossing, and joined them without solder.Hammered gold standing fi gure (fi rst century b.c.e. to fi rst century c.e.),
Colombia or Ecuador (Copyright the Metropolitan Museum of Art)metallurgy: The Americas 687