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Course: The British Museum > Unit 2
Lesson 1: South America- Nasca, an introduction
- Inka stone vessels
- What is an Inka ushnu?
- Inka ushnus: landscape, site and symbol in the Andes
- Ancient Colombian goldmaking
- From wax to metal: Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
- By hammer and fire: Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
- Depletion gilding: Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
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By hammer and fire: Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
By hammer and fire (a martillo y fuego), Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians © Trustees of the British Museum. Created by British Museum.
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- Were these thin metal objects typically made to be jewelry? What was their purpose?(5 votes)
- Actually, the 'thin metal object' you were talking about were used as currency.(3 votes)
- Was this process discovered by foreign trade or built upon through the generations?(3 votes)
- Can anyone theorize (or know) why the very last object shown, the rightmost in the line, strongly resembles Celtic goldwork?(2 votes)
- It's probably a coincidence - the cultures were worlds apart. Another coincidence is that both the Egyptian and Mesoamerican cultures built pyramids, without any knowledge of one another.(1 vote)