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THE HISTORY OF GOLD
Sweat of the Sun Gold in the Americas
Article # : gold178
Sweat of the Sun
Gold in the Americas was a prized material for objects of adornment. It was also valued for its religious symbolism. For the Inca and other peoples of the Andean region of South America, gold was the "sweat of the sun," the most sacred of all deities.
But it was gold's value as money that drove European exploration and colonization of the New World. Massive collections of plundered New World gold objects and ornaments were melted down for coinage, increasing the money supply in the Old World.
EARLY GOLD AND THE CHAVÍN CULT
Sometime around 500 BC, a cult spread throughout much of the Andean region, probably associated with an oracle at Chavín de Huantar in the northern highlands of present-day Peru. Around the same time, magnificent gold objects were created on the north coast of Peru. These objects included breastplates of gold, golden headdresses and large stirrup-spout jars. Craftsmen often alloyed-or combined-the gold with other metals such as silver and copper to create a variety of colors.
These Chavín-style objects come from a single buried cache in Peru's Huarmey Valley. Chavín smiths excelled in working sheets of gold to make ritual objects. As the Chavín cult spread, goldsmiths created objects displaying Chavín iconography.
PERUVIAN NORTH COAST
Cultures such as Moche, Sicán (Lambayeque) and Chimú on present-day Peru's north coast used gold in life and after. Vast quantities of maize beer were drunk from large golden kero vessels on ceremonial occasions such as marriage celebrations, political alliances or religious sacrifices. In burial ceremonies, vast quantities of gold accompanied the rulers and other high-ranking members of these societies to their tombs.
In northern South America, an area rich in gold deposits, metalsmiths used gold and gold alloys to make cast and hammered objects. Many of the gold objects found in ancient tombs, such as nose and ear ornaments, lip plugs and tools, served as symbols of power and status both in life and in death. In the region that became present-day Colombia, a number of separate cultures developed distinct styles and used a wide range of metalworking techniques.
The original story of El Dorado-"the gilded one"-described a ritual in which the chief of the Andean Muisca nation, covered in gold dust, made offerings of gold into a mountain lake. Spanish conquistadores of the 1530s were gripped by the story; eventually it turned into the legend of a lost city of gold. Many expeditions tried but failed to find El Dorado.
Keros are associated with the ceremonial drinking of chicha (maize beer), and were often used as funerary offerings in elite burials.
Sinú gold ornaments are thematically dominated by birds and animals that are native to the region. Such ornaments were worn exclusively by the elite as a sign of social status.
Source: AMNH.org