The Sparkling History Of Pre Columbian Jewelry

The story of pre-Columbian jewelry starts around 4000 BC. The pre-Columbian empires even then were a highly developed society conversant in not only art and mathematics but in astronomy, engineering, metallurgy and architecture as well. Historical jewelry from around 4000 BC in these empires showed extensive use of copper and its various oxides. It's believed that their knowledge in metallurgy actually spurred the production of weapons! Copper was used in ornaments, beads and earrings besides weapons and excellent armor. By 3000 BC the Pre-Columbians were already using the lost-wax process for jewelry. This process is even now used in the manufacture of jet engine turbine blades!

Such pre-Columbian jewelry was cast in brass; silver plated and then gold plated using 24-carat gold! That was not all. The jewelry was then protected with a coat of lacquer! Around 25, 000 articles of such historic jewelry displaying delicate artistry, excellent metallurgical skills and the highest form of aesthetics have been registered in museums. Colombia then was the original ?el Dorado' and at the very center of gold working skills. It's most unfortunate that the invading Spanish Conquistadors wiped out the entire civilization with the diseases they brought in.

Historic jewelry documented in 1557 found evidence of the use of even platinum by the pre-Columbians. Some 1600 gold jewelry articles from post 500 AD registered death masks, tweezers and flutes with exquisite craftsmanship. During the 3000 years between 1500 BC and 1500 AD the Inca and Nasca in Peru, Canar in Ecuador, Di Quis in Costa Rica, Cocle in Panama, Mixtec in Mexico and Tolima in Colombia were some of the pre-Columbian tribes who made exquisite pre-Columbian jewelry. Some of these were of armadillos, frogs, fish, turtles, shells, deer, lizards and jaguars besides flowers. There were jewelry pieces of musicians, men with drums and women with children in their arms. For the pre-Columbians, gold was known as the ?sweat of the sun' and silver as the ?tears of the moon'. Today online shops sell beautiful pre-Columbian earrings with jade stones, cat earrings and lizard brooches in sterling silver.

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