The Life Force of the Cosmos Metallurgy - Manta, Ecuador - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The informative board reads: "The Life Force of the Cosmos - Milestone: We were the pioneers, on a world scale, of working in platinum and alloying it with gold.

In ancestral indegenous thought, the life force of the cosmos was expressed in elements that shine especially in precious metals. One such metal was platinum, used by metalworkers of the La Tolita culture who used a very unusual method.

The Sun was also one of the pillars of the Andean cosmovision and was associated with gold. Consequently the brightness of the color of metals was the main visible show of power, but symbolic power. Unlike European metallurgy which developped mainly with belligerent and utilitarian ends, the pre-Columbian metallurgy of the New World concentrated on satisfying needs of the spiritual nature.

The symbolism of the color and shine of metal persisted in the Andean world right up to the European conquest.

Work in platinum

In ancient Ecuador metalwork became very sophisticated. The experimental phases date from 1800 to 1000 BC but the heyday of metalworking was not reached until after 500 BC. Metalsmiths in various cultures mastered the techniques of hammering, casting, rolling, embossing, soldering, filigree, inlay and assembly, amog others.

Particularly outstanding is the technique used by metalworkers of the La Tolita culture to work in platinum. This consisted in separating the platinum particles and mixing them with a little gold dust. This mixture was then heated, the gold dust thus became liquid and would penetrate the platinum whilst a small amount of the latter would dissolve in the melted gold. The metalsmiths then applied heat and hammering alternately to obtain sheets from which they would make a variety of objects or accessories that were added to other pieces.

La Tolita metalsmiths did not melt the platinum as to do so they would have had to obtain temperatures of about 1780 degrees centigrade."

Group that erected the marker: Museo Centro Cultural Manta URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Av. Malecón Manta, Ecuador

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