Analytical studies on pre-Columbian gold and silver from the North of Peru

Portable devices for energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and X and γ-ray transmission measurements were employed to analyze pre-Columbian metals from the North of Peru. Gold and silver are generally composed of gold, silver, and copper and silver, copper, and gold (and more rarely lead), r...

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Published inAtti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze fisiche e naturali Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 473 - 484
Main Authors Cesareo, R., Bustamante, A., Azeredo, S., Lopes, R. T., Franco, R. J., Fernandez, A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.06.2020
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Alloys
Arsenic
Biomedicine
Bromine
Copper
Depletion
Dispersion
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environment
Fluorescence
Gilding
Gold
Gold alloys
Gold base alloys
Heavy metals
History of Science
Life Sciences
Masks
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Non-Destructive Techniques for Cultural Heritage
Portable equipment
Silver
X ray fluorescence analysis
X-ray fluorescence
Peru
Gold
Silver
Bromine
Arsenic
Lead
Mercury
XRF
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Summary:Portable devices for energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and X and γ-ray transmission measurements were employed to analyze pre-Columbian metals from the North of Peru. Gold and silver are generally composed of gold, silver, and copper and silver, copper, and gold (and more rarely lead), respectively. Besides gold and silver, artisans from these cultures also produced artifacts with gilded copper, gilded silver, tumbaga (gold alloys enriched at the surface by depletion gilding), silvered copper, and silvered gold. Furthermore, “strange” elements like arsenic, bromine, and mercury were also sometimes detected by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, rarely in gold alloys (mercury) and more frequently in silver alloys (arsenic, bromine and mercury). Arsenic is associated with copper, always present in silver alloys, while bromine and lead are typically associated to silver. Finally, mercury, in form of cinnabar powder, was employed to cover gold masks, and, possibly in form of liquid mercury, for a process called “mercury amalgam” to sold together gold and silver sheets.
ISSN:2037-4631
1720-0776
DOI:10.1007/s12210-020-00891-0