Pre-columbian Gold and Copper in Costa Rica

哥斯达黎加前哥伦布时期的金矿和铜矿

• 批准号: 470821474
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Sabine Klein
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Ur- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/470821474?language=en
• 关键词: Pre; columbian; Gold; Copper; Costa

The wealth in gold is still firmly associated with the “New World”. Peru and Columbia are most prominent in the debate, while much less is known about Central America. This new project sets out to fill this gap and to provide a profound insight into the early metallurgy (gold and copper) of Central America. Costa Rica was decided upon as the core area of study. It boasts not only a wealth of pre-columbian gold and copper artefacts but is also at the heart of the region, featuring both influences from Mesoamerica and from the isthmo-columbian area. Costa Ricas archaeological research and conservation institutions are of very high standard. The unequivocal support of our costarican cooperation partners at present offers the great chance to establish a longer lasting research perspective between Germany and this heartland of Central America. The project follows a two-step concept, starting off with a research strategy combining mining archaeology and geo-chemical analysis, both on local ores as well as on metal artefacts in museums and collections. Once the basic data has been collected and analysed, the second part will focus on socio-cultural and economic aspects. In cooperation with Ancient American Studies the results from Costa Rica will be put into perspective of new world early metallurgy between Mexico and Columbia. The first part of the project, which is applied for in this proposal, sets out to generate the basic analytical data. Previous archaeometallurgical studies were mostly confined to museum objects. Due to differing analytical methods the results remain difficult to compare. Despite its wealth in metal artefacts, no mining archaeological research has ever been done at Costa Ricas rich metal deposits. Therefore, besides comprehensive artefact analysis, the first project phase comprises a systematic survey of the relevant deposits and mining precincts, to search for remains of pre-Columbian metal production, i.e. mining, beneficiation or processing sites and to systematically sample and analyse the primary gold and copper deposits and (paleo-) placers in the north and south of Costa Rica. The main aim will be to establish the geochemical fingerprints of both ore districts and artefacts to identify potential raw material sources of the metal objects by comparison of these signatures. Our results will provide a sound archaeometallurgical data base for future research approaches in Central America, beyond the borders of Costa Rica.

黄金财富仍然与“新世界”紧密相连。秘鲁和哥伦比亚在这场争论中最为突出，而中美洲则鲜为人知。这个新项目旨在填补这一空白，并为中美洲的早期冶金（金和铜）提供深刻的见解。哥斯达黎加被确定为核心研究地区。它不仅拥有丰富的前哥伦布时期的金铜文物，而且位于该地区的中心，受到中美洲和哥伦比亚地峡地区的影响。哥斯达黎加的考古研究和保护机构具有很高的标准。目前，我们哥斯达黎加合作伙伴的明确支持为德国与中美洲中心地带之间建立更持久的研究视角提供了绝佳机会。该项目遵循两步走的概念，首先是结合采矿考古学和地球化学分析的研究策略，既针对当地矿石，也针对博物馆和收藏中的金属文物。一旦收集和分析了基本数据，第二部分将重点关注社会文化和经济方面。 与古代美国研究合作，哥斯达黎加的研究成果将被纳入墨西哥和哥伦比亚之间新世界早期冶金的视角。本提案中所应用的项目的第一部分旨在生成基本分析数据。以前的考古冶金研究大多局限于博物馆藏品。由于分析方法不同，结果仍然难以比较。尽管哥斯达黎加拥有丰富的金属文物，但尚未对哥斯达黎加丰富的金属矿床进行过采矿考古研究。因此，除了全面的人工制品分析之外，项目第一阶段还包括对相关矿床和采矿区进行系统调查，寻找前哥伦布时代金属生产的遗迹，即采矿、选矿或加工场地，并对哥斯达黎加北部和南部的原生金矿和铜矿以及（古）砂矿进行系统取样和分析。主要目的是建立矿区和文物的地球化学指纹，通过比较这些特征来识别金属物体的潜在原材料来源。我们的研究结果将为哥斯达黎加境外中美洲的未来研究方法提供完善的考古冶金数据库。