Archaeometallurgy of the New World: Current Research, Approaches, and Methods

Metallurgy and metalworking first emerged in the Andean region of South America, and appear to have progressively spread northward along the continent, as far as Mesoamerica, developing into local technological traditions. Copper, silver, and gold as well as different alloys comprised of these and other metals, were fashioned as ornaments used in religious ceremonies and for the enhancement of elite cultural status as well as more mundane items. In the last few decades, important aspects of the production, distribution, and use of such goods in different regions of the Americas have been inferred by scholars, often from combinations of ethnohistorical, archaeological, and archaeometric data. This Symposium attempts to explore research developments comparatively in archaeometallurgy of the New World, departing from studies of diverse nature, including ore sources, mining technology, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy as well as the social and technological choices that governed metallurgical production in different regions in the Andes, the Intermediate Area of Colombia and Lower Central America, and Mesoamerica.