1991/05/01 by David Scott · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Alloy #Atomic absorption spectroscopy #Composite material #Electron microprobe #FOIL method #Gold alloys #History and Politics in Latin America #Materials science #Metallography #Metallurgy #Microstructure #Optical microscope #Physics #Scanning electron microscope
paper · doi:10.1179/sic.1991.36.2.65
openalex publication_date 1991/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Nine fragments of gold wire from pre- HispanIc South America are examined by optical microscopy, metallography, scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, atomic absorption. spectrophotometry and optical emission spectrophotometry. The wires examined include examples of hammered gold wire, block-twisted wire and strip-twisted wire. Cast gold wire, made by the lost-wax process, was commonly employed in both the Muisca and the Sinú cultural areas of ancient Colombia. Very fine rectangular gold wire, about 12μ by 40μIn sectIon, was made in the La Tolita-Tumaco area and an early example is dated to about 325 B.C. This wire may have been made by cutting fine hammered gold foil. Apart from the cast examples, all the gold wires examined were made in native gold alloys which are typical for the Colombian-Ecuadorian area.