Re: North America's Bronze Age?


Jean a écrit dans le message <46322a4b$0$5092$ba4acef3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>...

Jack Linthicum a écrit dans le message
<1177685794.994156.219640@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>...
On Apr 25, 10:02 pm, "Jean" <jean.len...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
johansson <1732johans...@xxxxxxxxx> a écrit dans le message
<_7iYh.39476$E02.15...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>...



First I would like to point to this interesting article:
Levine Mary Ann, Determining the Provenance of native copper artifacts
from
Northeastern North America: evidence from instrumental neutron
activation
analysis
Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 34, Issue 4, April 2007, page
572-587

and ask if it's not about time to recognise that also the so called New
World had a Bronze Age which in some cases seems to have started if not
earlier so at least as early as in the so called Old World? Reason for
my
question is that Levine found chemical characterization of copper from
13
geological deposit dating from Late Archaic ~5000 BP to Early
Woodland's -
2000 BP. If the copper is 'gained' from more than a few geological
deposits,
this seem to indicate either that people with knowledge of what to look
for
and how to 'process'/use the Copper at least might have made same
'finding'
as done in parts of the Old World where Bronze first were found/made
from
Copper melting in charcoal fires. Provided of course that at least some
tinoxide existed in Copper raw material as it did here in the Old World.

Inger E

This may be of interest!
PRECOLUMBIAN BRONZE TUMI FROM PERU

http://www.artigua.com/stores/xanthos/items/288387/en1artigua.html
Here are some other sites! How valid the information on these sites
is I do not know

http://www.bdomineau.com/gpage11.htmlhttp://ancientamerican.com/
????http://www.davistownmuseum.org/bibPreColumb.htm

JL

Is this "natural bronze", ie copper with some trace element like
arsenic or tin in it from the ore?

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00243.x?j
o
urnalCode=arch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallurgy_in_pre-Columbian_Mesoamerica


I have never heard of the occurrence of a native copper-tin alloy even at
Rio Tinto Spain where the ores
of both copper and tin can be found. If a copper and tin ore are smelted
together the results could be bronze.
This is possibly how bronze came about in the first place. Tin is not
found in a native state (as a metal).
It (tin oxide) is smelted by simply heating in a wood fire. Cassiterite
(tin oxide) is the main ore of tin.
It can be found in abundance in Bolivia. Copper ores are common in the new
world.
It seems that at one time metallurgy was advanced to the point of
smelting and extraction
of metal from ores in south and central America. These skill seem to have
either been lost or in
decline by the time of the Spanish conquest.
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/abstract_61530.htm
http://www.lehigh.edu/~inarcmet/Peru/Peruvian.htm

JL


PS. That the development of metallurgy was arrested at some points seems to
be the conclusion of the paper you cite.

"The forging and annealing procedure they used did not enhance the
mechanical properties of their tools, and may reflect an inherited
metallurgical tradition.
"http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00243.x?j
o
urnalCode=arch


JL


.

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