Insights from an Archaeometallurgist

Detail of a silver-plated copper nose ornament. Middle Moche 450-650 AD. Huaca el Pueblo archaeological site, Ucupe, Peru. Credit Steve Bourget.

Three weeks before the end of the temporary exhibition "Les Rois Mochica" presented at the Museum of Ethnology in Geneva, archaeometallurgist Carole Fraresso led a visit focusing on metalwork.

It tells us that Peruvian goldsmiths excelled in plastic deformation techniques (for example, hammering), that they had discovered an electrochemical process for covering their copper ornaments with a thin layer of gold or silver. And that this impressive technological discovery was probably linked to a shortage of precious metals, starting around 400 AD.