Abstract
WILLIAMS CURTIS FARABEE1 refers to some finds of gold and platinum objects which come from La Tolita, Esmeraldas, Ecuador. During the washing process, in addition to the natural gold and platinum, a quantity of quite small gold objects were obtained, which bear witness to the surprising skill of the Indians, who used gold not only for ornaments, but also for many useful objects, which in the form of fishing-hooks, sewing needles, safety-pins, hooks and eyes demonstrate the existence of a true gold age. The use of gold extended even to nails, which, it is known2, are found but seldom in South America. In Antioquia, in Columbia, which lies to the north, objects are found made particularly of the gold alloy (copper 50, gold 33, silver 12 per cent) which is known as tumbago2; but the La Tolita gold is of an essentially different composition, and the metal is often alloyed with platinum, obviously with the intention of producing white alloys.
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References
Museum J., Philadelphia, March 1921.
Erland Nordenskiöld, ” Comparative Ethnographical Studies”, Gothenburg, vols. 4 and 9.
P. Rivet, J. Soc. des Americanistes, 15, 185 (1923).
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BERGSØE, P. Metallurgy of Gold and Platinum among the Pre-Columbian Indians. Nature 137, 29 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137029a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137029a0
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