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Composition, colour and context in Muisca votive metalwork (Colombia, AD 600–1800)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

María Alicia Uribe Villegas  and
Marcos Martinón-Torres
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Extract

Chemical analysis of the stunning Muisca metalwork shows that the alloys of copper and gold were especially composed for each offering. Traditionally, the Muisca objects have been collected and studied as works of art. Our authors show that when it comes to drawing understanding of people from the objects they have left us, context is all. The results have much to reveal to metallurgists and students of symbolic metalwork everywhere.

Keywords

Colombiapre-Columbianarchaeometallurgygoldtunjochemical analysis
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 86 , Issue 333 , September 2012 , pp. 772 - 791
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2012 

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