Mujeres, calabazos, brillo y tumbaga. Símbolos de vida y transformación en la orfebrería Quimbaya Temprana

del-oro The Bogotá Gold Museum was created in 1939 and houses archaeological objects of gold, pottery, bone, shell, stone, and textiles. The extraordinary quality of its collection of pre-Hispanic goldwork, the largest in existence, makes it unique in the world. It was established by the Central Bank of Colombia, to which the museum belongs, to save metallurgical pieces from being destroyed or removed to museums and private collections in other parts of the world, especially Europe and North America. From its foundation, the museum has valued the unique and artistic nature of the objects and their importance to Colombians as representations of a common past. The Gold Museum is by nature a national museum, the most important museum of anthropology and archaeology in the country, being, from its creation, the leading institution in museology, museography, and conservation. Research programs in archaeology, archaeometallurgy, and

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Metallic encounters in Cuba: The technology, exchange and meaning of metals before and after Columbus

Martinón‐Torres¹,

Rojas²,

Samper³

et al. 2012

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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a b s t r a c tMetals held important symbolic and political values for the indigenous communities of the Caribbean islands. However, metal objects are not abundant in indigenous archaeological sites, and their study has hitherto been very limited. This paper presents the results of the first analytical programme focused on metal artifacts recovered in a range of Taíno sites in Cuba, chronologically covering the periods before and after contact with Europeans. Our aims were: (a) to identify metallurgical traditions related to a diversity of cultural or learning backgrounds; (b) to investigate the origins of different metal artifacts found in Cuba, as a proxy to reconstruct patterns of exchange and interaction among indigenous communities and between these and Europeans; and (c) to approach the meaning and symbolism of different metals by considering their contexts of appropriation and use. The techniques employed included optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, pXRF and PIXE. The results allow a diachronic picture of the procurement, transformation, use and symbolism of metals in Cuba with broader implications for Caribbean archaeology. We reveal culture-specific Taíno choices in their interaction with materials and value systems from continental America and Europe. We also discuss the selective appropriation, recontextualization and meaning of different metals in the indigenous cultures.Crown

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Mujeres, calabazos, brillo y tumbaga. Símbolos de vida y transformación en la orfebrería Quimbaya Temprana

Cited by 9 publications

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Gold Museum (Museo del Oro)

Gold Museum (Museo del Oro)

Gold Museum (Museo del Oro)

Metallic encounters in Cuba: The technology, exchange and meaning of metals before and after Columbus

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