Tumbaga
Tumbaga (also Tumbago ) is an alloy with the main components gold and copper . The copper content can be up to 70%. Tumbaga has a lower melting point and greater hardness than gold. The alloy was particularly widespread in ancient Colombia and Central America . The surfaces of the products were heated and the resulting copper oxide was removed with vegetable acid. What was left was pure gold. Many articles of Indians were prepared for. B. the Tumi and the Tunjos . This is how the peoples of the Muisca (see Eldorado ), the Tairona and the Sinú worked . There were two processing techniques: driving and hammering, and lost-wax casting .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ The process is called "Mise en couleur". Glyn Daniel: Encyclopedia of Archeology 1993 p. 328
Web links
Commons : Tumbaga - collection of images, videos and audio files
- Depletion Gilding: An Ancient Method for Surface Enrichment of Gold Alloys (accessed August 30, 2019).
- Pre-Columbian metal surface finishing (accessed August 30, 2019).
- The conservation of tumbaga metals from Panama at the Peabody Museum (accessed August 30, 2019).
- Technology of ancient Peruvian metal processing (accessed on August 30, 2019).