Ancient metalworking in South America. A 3000-year-old copper mask from the Argentinean Andes

CORTÉS, LETICIA INÉS; SCATTOLIN, MARÍA CRISTINA

ANTIQUITY

Department of Archaeology University of Durham

Lugar: Durham; Año: 2017 vol. 91 p. 688 - 700

0003-598X

The most ancient metallurgy of pre-Columbian America originated and evolved in the Andes, reaching great levels of technical sophistication. Well-known examples of this craftsmanship (Moche, Chimú, Quimbaya, Muisca) derive from various innovative regions. Even pre-Hispanic Mexican metallurgy comes from the Andes (Hosler 1999). However, as a few interesting cases of these first moments of experimentation with metals come from Perú, with them comes the popular idea that any technical advance took place in the Peruvian Andes. And because complex societies later emerged in what is now Central Andes, there is a tendency to think that all technological innovations did as well. This is part of an enduring neo-evolutionary mindset which assumes that all these changes co-occurred, even though some data seems to contradict it. This could be the cause of the low visibility of metallurgical evidence from Northwestern Argentina. Moreover, after many years of research, little is known about the roots of this ancient technology as early proofs of copper metalworking in the Central Andean region are scant. By contrast, some crucial evidences are emerging in the meridional region of the Andes, as Northern Chile and Northwestern Argentina. Several archaeological finds point to the Southern Andes as an innovative area that made important contributions to the metallurgical traditions of the broader region (González 1999, Núñez 1999). Additional support for this argument is provided by the fact that some of the most important copper mines are found in those southern countries, as well as in Bolivia. Based on the finding of a anthropomorphic copper mask in a funerary context dated to 3000 years before present we argue that the Cajón and nearby valleys have been an important focus of copper metallurgy supporting a very early tradition of metalworking in Northwestern Argentina, thus suggesting more than one center for the origin of this technology. To date, this mask is the most ancient intentionally shaped copper object from the Andes.