Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes

In 1532, the volume of gold provided by Atahualpa, the Inka king, as ransom for his release from the Spanish was hard evidence for the efficient small-scale gold mining that took place before European contact and the number of gold occurrences in the Andes. At Huancavelica, Perú, mercury occurs as a...

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Main Authors: William E. Brooks, Gabriela Schwörbel, Luis Enrique Castillo
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Institut Français d'Études Andines 2011-07-01
Series:Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/bifea/1471
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author William E. Brooks
Gabriela Schwörbel
Luis Enrique Castillo
author_facet William E. Brooks
Gabriela Schwörbel
Luis Enrique Castillo
author_sort William E. Brooks
collection DOAJ
description In 1532, the volume of gold provided by Atahualpa, the Inka king, as ransom for his release from the Spanish was hard evidence for the efficient small-scale gold mining that took place before European contact and the number of gold occurrences in the Andes. At Huancavelica, Perú, mercury occurs as a native metal and as cinnabar [HgS], which was used for pigments, funeral preparations, and retorted to obtain mercury. Using Inductively Coupled Plasma analysis (ICP), an average of 15 ppm (parts per million) mercury was found in the gold after the gold-mercury amalgam, with more than 300 000 ppm mercury, was burned to volatilize (rogado) the mercury. From 12,3 to 13,9 ppm mercury was found in worked gold foils from Huaca la Ventana, a Middle Sicán (A. D. 900-1200) site at Lambayeque, Perú and low levels of mercury were found in pre-contact gold foils from Colombia (1-12 ppm). Similarly low levels of mercury in the analyses of modern refogado gold and pre-contact gold foils are consistent with a comparable, ancient small-scale mining technology that would have used mercury to amalgamate the fine-grained gold; and then, as now, burning the amalgam to volatilize the mercury and beautify and recover the gold.
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spelling doaj.art-3c3f0ca04c2840bdb79c7a858d3f1ca02024-02-14T16:32:35ZspaInstitut Français d'Études AndinesBulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines0303-74952076-58272011-07-014033334710.4000/bifea.1471Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient AndesWilliam E. BrooksGabriela SchwörbelLuis Enrique CastilloIn 1532, the volume of gold provided by Atahualpa, the Inka king, as ransom for his release from the Spanish was hard evidence for the efficient small-scale gold mining that took place before European contact and the number of gold occurrences in the Andes. At Huancavelica, Perú, mercury occurs as a native metal and as cinnabar [HgS], which was used for pigments, funeral preparations, and retorted to obtain mercury. Using Inductively Coupled Plasma analysis (ICP), an average of 15 ppm (parts per million) mercury was found in the gold after the gold-mercury amalgam, with more than 300 000 ppm mercury, was burned to volatilize (rogado) the mercury. From 12,3 to 13,9 ppm mercury was found in worked gold foils from Huaca la Ventana, a Middle Sicán (A. D. 900-1200) site at Lambayeque, Perú and low levels of mercury were found in pre-contact gold foils from Colombia (1-12 ppm). Similarly low levels of mercury in the analyses of modern refogado gold and pre-contact gold foils are consistent with a comparable, ancient small-scale mining technology that would have used mercury to amalgamate the fine-grained gold; and then, as now, burning the amalgam to volatilize the mercury and beautify and recover the gold.https://journals.openedition.org/bifea/1471mercuryAndesamalgamationsmall-scale gold mining
spellingShingle William E. Brooks
Gabriela Schwörbel
Luis Enrique Castillo
Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
mercury
Andes
amalgamation
small-scale gold mining
title Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
title_full Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
title_fullStr Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
title_full_unstemmed Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
title_short Amalgamation and small-scale gold mining in the ancient Andes
title_sort amalgamation and small scale gold mining in the ancient andes
topic mercury
Andes
amalgamation
small-scale gold mining
url https://journals.openedition.org/bifea/1471
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