COMPARATIVE ARCHAEOMETRY OF PRE-HISPANIC METALLURGY IN COLOMBIA AND PERU: TECHNOLOGIES, RAW MATERIALS AND CULTURAL USES
Pre-Hispanic metallurgy constitutes one of the most complex and significant technological developments of ancient American societies. In Colombia and Peru, metallurgical traditions of extraordinary sophistication emerged, associated with the working of gold, silver, copper, tumbaga and various alloys used in ritual, funerary, political and exchange contexts. These traditions reflect not only high levels of technical knowledge but also complex forms of social organization, craft specialization and the symbolic construction of power. This symposium proposes to bring together research dedicated to the comparative study of pre-Hispanic metallurgy in Colombia and Peru from an archaeometric and interdisciplinary perspective. It seeks to integrate contributions from archaeology, anthropology, physics, chemistry, materials science, geology, conservation and museum studies in order to understand manufacturing technologies, operational sequences, the selection and provenance of raw materials, the circulation of metal objects, the transfer of technical knowledge, and cultural interaction between different regions of the American continent. Papers on the north coast of Peru, the Quimbaya tradition, western Colombia, the northern Andes and other regions of the Central Andes and the Intermediate Area that broaden the comparison between different American metallurgical traditions will be especially welcome. Research on pre-Hispanic mining, metallurgical workshops, furnaces, crucibles, molds, slag and production processes, as well as studies of museum collections and metal heritage, will also be received. The symposium calls for research based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF and pXRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), Mössbauer spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, isotopic analysis, metallography, computed micro-tomography (Micro-CT), ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS and other archaeometric methodologies, both destructive and non-destructive. Beyond presenting analytical results, the symposium seeks to discuss fundamental questions about the technological evolution of pre-Hispanic societies: Were there processes of independent innovation or technological convergence? What evidence exists of the transfer of metallurgical knowledge? How did raw materials influence technological development? What relationships existed between metallurgical production, regional exchange and the construction of power? Finally, the symposium aims to strengthen scientific cooperation among researchers from Colombia, Peru and other American countries, promoting international networks dedicated to the study, conservation and valorization of pre-Hispanic metallurgical heritage.
