May 12, 2019

Ancient Metallurgist Buried with Bronze Tools Uncovered in Peru

An Archaeologist at a Wari site at Huarmey, Peru was examining a ceremonial square and fell into a hole which contained the tomb of a 1,200-year-old metallurgist wrapped in a textile covering. Further excavations found that the tomb also contained a dozen tools, most of them bronze; a saw, axe, knives, chisel. The bronze was a copper alloy with arsenic. That made the tools harder. They also uncovered an obsidian knife, rare in Wari culture, imported from afar.

The tools show a lot of wear indicating that the deceased man was a professional metallurgist. Slag found in the tomb was probably placed there to indicate his trade. The tomb was located at the bottom of a mountain, the top of which was a tomb excavated by the same team from Poland in 2012 that contained 64 individuals and 1200 rich artifacts dating to the 8th century.

The History Blog has the story here with photos;
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/54996

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