Copper in Pre-Columbian Costa Rican metallurgy: A case study on gold-copper alloy and copper objects

Abstract

In the metalwork tradition of the Isthmo-Colombian area, which in its core comprises Costa Rica, Panama and north-western Colombia, copper plays an essential role. It was added to (argentiferous) gold to produce guanín (also known as tumbaga), the primary material used in the metallurgy of the Isthmo-Colombian Area, and more rarely made into unalloyed copper artefacts. This data-driven study combines our material-based investigations of metal objects from the museum collections of the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, the Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen Berlin and the Museo del Jade y de la Cultura Precolombina with previously published legacy data. By comparing the distribution, types and technological characteristics of gold-copper alloy and copper objects, we aim at shedding light at the use of copper in the Pre-Columbian metallurgy of Costa Rica from different perspectives.

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