Ice-core evidence of earliest extensive copper metallurgy in the Andes 2700 years ago

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 41855
• Main Authors: Eichler, A., Gramlich, G., Kellerhals, T., Tobler, L., Rehren, Th, Schwikowski, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 31-01-2017; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/172/169; 704/844; Air pollution; Anthropogenic factors; Archaeology; Archives & records; Copper; Dust; Economic development; Glaciers; Humanities and Social Sciences; Ice; Metallurgy; multidisciplinary; Peat; Pollution; Postcolonialism; Science; Smelting; South America
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep41855

The importance of metallurgy for social and economic development is indisputable. Although copper (Cu) was essential for the wealth of pre- and post-colonial societies in the Andes, the onset of extensive Cu metallurgy in South America is still debated. Comprehensive archaeological findings point to first sophisticated Cu metallurgy during the Moche culture ~200–800 AD, whereas peat-bog records from southern South America suggest earliest pollution potentially from Cu smelting as far back as ~2000 BC. Here we present a 6500-years Cu emission history for the Andean Altiplano, based on ice-core records from Illimani glacier in Bolivia, providing the first complete history of large-scale Cu smelting activities in South America. We find earliest anthropogenic Cu pollution during the Early Horizon period ~700–50 BC, and attribute the onset of intensified Cu smelting in South America to the activities of the central Andean Chiripa and Chavin cultures ~2700 years ago. This study provides for the first time substantial evidence for extensive Cu metallurgy already during these early cultures.