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Cu artefacts documenting Cu metallurgy during periods with enhanced anthropogenic Cu emissions. From the left: (1) Chiripa Cu pin, bent, excavated by W. Bennett in 1934 at the Chiripa House 2 site (CH-H2 13 ), occupied during the late Chiripa period (~600–100 BC) 12 (Courtesy of the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, #41.1/3895); (2) Moche belt ornament (Peru, 2 nd –7 th century), Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org, bequest of Jane Costello Goldberg, from the Collection of Arnold I. Goldberg, 1986; (3) I shaped architectural cramp from the Puma Punka pyramid at Tiwanaku, Bolivia, composed of Cu-As-Ni bronze alloy 42 ; (4) Inca tumi (ceremonial knife) made of tin bronze (Peru, 15 th -early 16 th century), Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org, bequest of Jane Costello Goldberg, from the Collection of Arnold I. Goldberg, 1986, (5) Large bronze signal cannon, Spanish Colonial, 1600 s, Peru; Credit: Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC, www.sedwickcoins.com; (6) modern Cu wires (Image: Anja Eichler).
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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 Moch...
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... in the Peruvian Andes (Chavin culture) (see Fig. 1). Although the Early Horizon Chiripa culture was among the most highly developed cultures in the region 26 , there is no indication of metallurgical activities until the Late Chiripa phase (800-200 BC), marked by the formation of a chiefdom 27 . Cu artefacts including beads and pins (see Fig. 5) have been excavated at Late Chiripa sites 13,27 . Early Horizon Cu bracelets were found in the Cochabamba valley 28 . In parallel with the Late Chiripa the Chavin culture developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru from 900 to 200 BC. H2 13 ), occupied during the late Chiripa period (~600-100 BC) 12 Under Chavin influence, a ...
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... in northern Peru flourished between 200 and 800 AD (Fig. 1). Artefacts from the Moche Valley document a highly sophisticated Cu metallurgy during the late Moche period, including the first known appearance of arsenic bronze in South America 4,14 . Aside from the occurrence of pure Cu artefacts (tumi knives, pins, tweezers, belt ornaments) (Fig. 5), Au-Cu-Ag alloys were also found (crowns, headdresses, necklaces) 14,31 . Here, Cu was added to improve the mechanical properties and to produce the culturally required colour of a metal object 14 . The Sicán culture, following the Moche in northern Peru, reached the height of their copper pro- duction during the Middle and Late ...
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... finger rings, knives, and needles) 41 only a few consisted of pure Cu or arsenic bronze, whereas the majority were either tin bronze or copper-arsenic-nickel (Cu-As-Ni) alloys. This unique ternary bronze alloy was also deployed to produce I shaped architectural cramps utilized in setting the stone blocks in buildings and Tiwanaku pyramids (Fig. 5) 4,42 . The use of this Cu-As-Ni alloy and the tradition of architectural cramps were restricted to the Tiwanaku culture. Inca buildings rarely, if ever, utilized cramps 42 ...
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... previous maxima. In the Inca empire (~1438-1532 AD) Cu-As alloys continued to be produced, but tin bronze was the most widely used alloy for the manufacturing of ornaments, implements, and weapons and became the imperial bronze 38 The strength and superior casting properties of this alloy allowed for making tumis, chisels, and other cutting tools (Fig. 5). Metallurgical production was brought to a new level in the Andes during the Inca time by reorgan- izing the labour force to shift to large-scale production of Cu alloys 45 ...
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... finally to the use of slag-forming furnaces, which release less pollution. Second, during Colonial times, Cu was regarded as a "plebeian" metal because of its relative low value compared to Ag and Au. It was predominantly used as ballast for ships returning to Spain, and for can- nons, bells, less valuable coins, and household utensils 46 (Fig. 5). Additionally, due to scarcity of fuel in the Andes, these resources were mainly dedicated to smelt Ag ores. Cu ores were exported for smelting in Europe and the US, where plentiful mineral coal was available. Consequently, the importance of Cu smelting in the Andes dimin- ished strongly during Colonial times 47 , which may also ...
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... Cu mining and smelting, air pollution control. Ice core Cu EFs started rising again from the beginning of the 20 th century, parallel with the world-wide growing use of Cu for electrical applications (Fig. 5), which boosted Cu production in South America. Illimani Cu EFs in the second half of that century are unprec- edented in the context of the last 6500 years, implying severe air pollution related to the soaring large-scale open-cast Cu mining and enhanced smelting activities in ...
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... Our study emphasizes the importance of evaluating multiple emission sources associated with mining activities. While regional-scale studies, such as the Illimani glacier in the Central Andes (Eichler et al., 2017) and Mount Johns in West Antarctic Ice Sheet (Schwanck et al., 2016), primarily capture emissions from long-range sources like smelters with fine particle emissions, our analysis provides insight into the local-scale impacts of mining activities. The observed increases in metal(loid) levels in tree rings suggest that local sources, including the Talabre tailing dam and nearby mining operations, significantly contribute to environmental pollution. ...
... (e) Time series for the palaeopollution index as a proxy for social upscaling. This index builds on enrichment factors for lead and mercury from Illimani ice-cores [26,27]. ...
... Enrichment Factors) for lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) reconstructed from two geochemical characterizations of Illimani icecores (approx. 16°S [26,27]). By this means, the dataset brings together data that account only for the contribution of traditional pyrometallurgical activities in the deposition of heavy metals emitted during the production of native copper alloys and silver. ...
The overall trajectory for the human–environment interaction has been punctuated by demographic boom-and-bust cycles, phases of growth/overshooting as well as of expansion/contraction in productivity. Although this pattern has been explained in terms of an interplay between population growth, social upscaling, ecosystem engineering and climate variability, the evoked demographic–resource-complexity mechanisms have not been empirically tested. By integrating proxy data for population sizes, palaeoclimate and internal societal factors into empirical modelling approaches from the population dynamic theory, we evaluated how endogenous (population sizes, warfare and social upscaling) and exogenous (climate) variables module the dynamic in past agrarian societies. We focused on the inland Atacama Desert, where populations developed agriculture activities by engineering arid and semi-arid landscapes during the last 2000 years. Our modelling approach indicates that these populations experienced a boom-and-bust dynamic over the last millennia, which was coupled to structure feedback between population sizes, hydroclimate, social upscaling, warfare and ecosystem engineering. Thus, the human–environment loop appears closely linked with cooperation, competition, limiting resources and the ability of problem-solving.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis’.
... Illimani preserve a record of the volatilized by-products from copper and silver production. This indirect evidence of copper smelting becomes recordable at the circa 3000 BP (1000 BC) range, concomitant with early social complexity (Eichler et al., 2017). ...
... The Illimani ice core data show a spike in the level of silver output during the Inca period and a dramatic increase in volatized by products of both copper and silver production into the Republican and modern periods (Eichler et al., 2015(Eichler et al., , 2017. ...
Like the Eastern Hemisphere, the cultures of the Americas developed a rich tradition of metallurgy millennia ago. The Andes were an independent center of innovation, arriving at the similar technologies and end products in the absence of direct or indirect contact. It is fascinating that human ingenuity and experimentation arrived at similar industrial processes in at least two areas of the world. In this paper we review the great metallurgy traditions in the Pre-Columbian Andes with an emphasis on copper.KeywordsAndesMetallurgyCultural evolutionPyrotechnologyCopper
... These ice caps may not have survived for millions of years, but just like the polar ice caps, tropical ice caps can be drilled and the recovered ice-core analyzed for a wide diversity of chemical and biological proxies (Thompson et al., 1995(Thompson et al., , 2013. Tropical ice caps have provided some of the most detailed histories of climate changes in the last millennium, the onset of pollution, and even of Roman metal-working (Eichler et al., 2017). Downslope from the ice caps, glaciers pulse up and down slope, expanding during wet, cold times, and retreating during warm dry ones. ...
This book introduces an innovative approach to sustainable and regenerative mountain development. Transdisciplinary to biophysical and biocultural scales, it provides answers to the "what, when, how, why, and where" that researchers question on mountains, including the most challenging: So What! Forwarding thinking in its treatment of core subjects, this decolonial, non-hegemonic volume inaugurates the Series with contributions of seasoned montologists, and invites the reader to an engaging excursion to ascend the rugged topography of paradigms, with the scaffolding hike of ambitious curiosity typical of mountain explorers.
Chapter 8 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
... δ 13 C org = −24.5 ± 0.9‰) can also affect the δ 13 C org values of littoral sediments through mixing processes. In deeper areas, atmospheric deposition (i.e., soil dust) during dry periods may reduce carbon isotope values (30,31). ...
... The fraction of freshwater algal biomarkers (n-alkane C [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] ) provides information about the water depth and salinity of the lake (increasing values with rising lake level and decreasing salinity) (30). Chlorophyll was used as a proxy for algal productivity (36), which was found to reflect primarily the productivity for Characeae in Lake Titicaca, caused by better preservation in encrustations of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) (30). ...
Holocene climate in the high tropical Andes was characterized by both gradual and abrupt changes, which disrupted the hydrological cycle and impacted landscapes and societies. High-resolution paleoenvironmental records are essential to contextualize archaeological data and to evaluate the sociopolitical response of ancient societies to environmental variability. Middle-to-Late Holocene water levels in Lake Titicaca were reevaluated through a transfer function model based on measurements of organic carbon stable isotopes, combined with high-resolution profiles of other geochemical variables and paleoshoreline indicators. Our reconstruction indicates that following a prolonged low stand during the Middle Holocene (4000 to 2400 BCE), lake level rose rapidly ~15 m by 1800 BCE, and then increased another 3 to 6 m in a series of steps, attaining the highest values after ~1600 CE. The largest lake-level increases coincided with major sociopolitical changes reported by archaeologists. In particular, at the end of the Formative Period (500 CE), a major lake-level rise inundated large shoreline areas and forced populations to migrate to higher elevation, likely contributing to the emergence of the Tiwanaku culture.
... Similar measurements performed on the Sajama and Quelccaya ice cores confirm that a rise in Pb pollution is likely related to its contribution as a gasoline additive (Hong et al., 2004;Uglietti et al., 2015;Eichler et al., 2015). Copper (Cu) metallurgy associated with ancient cultures on the Altiplano was also assessed using the Illimani ice core record, revealing that the earliest anthropogenic Cu pollution dates back to the Andean Chiripa and Chavin cultures 2700 years BP (Eichler et al., 2017). The highest concentration of Cu in the Illimani record occurred during the 2nd half of the 20th century, likely related to open-cast Cu mining in northern Chile, as also confirmed by measurements on Sajama (Hong et al., 2004). ...
... Today, it is the world's largest copper producer (27% of global production in 2021) through massive operations concentrated in the northern and central regions of the country (19 • -33 • S). The processes involved in metal mining (i.e., excavation, crushing, grinding, separation, smelting, refining, and tailings management) are a large anthropogenic source of PTEs on a national scale, representing 98% of all emissions in the country (Zhu et al., 2020), which have increased with the recent expansion of production and exports (Cerda et al., 2019;Eichler et al., 2015Eichler et al., , 2017Gayo et al., 2019;Schwanck et al., 2016;Vleeschouwer et al., 2014). ...
Indigenous communities from northern Chile have historically been exposed to the impacts of massive copper industrial activities conducted in the region. Some of the communities belonging to the Alto El Loa Indigenous Development Area are located less than 10 km from the “Talabre'' tailings dam, which contains residues from copper production and other metals that can be toxic to human health (e.g., As, Sb, Cd, Mo, Pb). Given the increasing demand of copper production to achieve net-zero emission scenarios and concomitant expansions of the tailings, the exposure to toxic metals is a latent risk to local communities. Despite the impact that copper production could generate on ancestral communities from northern Chile, studies and monitoring are limited and the results are often not made accessible for local communities. Here, we evaluate such risks by characterizing metal concentrations in dust collected from roofs and windows of houses from the Alto El Loa area. Our results showed that As, Sb, Cd, Cu, Mo, Ag, S, and Pb concentrations in these matrices can be connected to local copper mining activities. Additionally, air transport models indicate that high concentrations of toxic elements (As, Sb, and Cd) can be explained by the atmospheric transport of particles from the tailings in a NE direction up to 50 km away. Pollution indices and Health Risk Assessment suggested a highly contaminated region with a health risk for its inhabitants. Our analysis on a local scale seeks to make visible the case of northern Chile as a critical territory where actions should be taken to mitigate the effects of mining in the face of this new scenario of international demand for raw materials necessary for the transition to a net-zero carbon global society.
... As for many other metals, Tl is emitted to the atmosphere along with terrigenous particles. Anthropogenic Ce sources remained far lower than crustal emissions in Europe (Arienzo et al., 2021), and as conducted in previous ice-core studies from Greenland and several high-elevation mid-latitude glaciers (Eichler et al., 2015(Eichler et al., , 2017McConnell et al., 2018), we first used Ce and the "mean sediment" Tl-to-Ce ratio (Bowen, 1966) to estimate the crustal contribution. The anthropogenic Tl fraction was determined by subtracting the crustal contribution from the total measured concentrations. ...
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Although less prevalent in the environment than toxic metals such as lead and cadmium, thallium is a highly toxic metal even at very low levels. Because reliable measurements are difficult at such low concentrations, thallium pollution is far less documented than other toxic metals. Cement production originally was estimated to be the primary source of thallium pollution at the global scale, but it was later recognized that coal burning was likely the main source. These previous estimates refer to the recent decades but no longer‐term inventories were available. Furthermore, no inventories were established at the scale of the European continent. Detailed measurements in Alpine ice cores show that thallium pollution after the late 19th century primarily was the result of coal burning in western Europe, and was largest between 1920 and 1965 as expected from coal consumption records. The rapid growth of cement production that took place after World War II had only limited impact on thallium pollution in Europe.
... Thus, the discovered structures are sometimes so fragmented and poorly presented that often reconstructing their shape, type and use is very difficult or even impossible (e.g. Angelini et al., 2017;Eichler et al., 2017;Workman et al., 2021). In such cases, the residual indications of an oven or a kiln can be easily wrongly identified by archaeologists as a hearth and vice versa, when only few visible traces are taken into account. ...
... In the hottest zone of the structure firing temperature may exceed 1200 • C (Ben-Yosef et al., 2017;Figueiredo et al., 2018;Marks et al., 2020). Ovens have often been destroyed and recycled after smelting, leaving unidentifiable remains insufficient for reconstruction (Timberlake, 2007;Angelini et al., 2017;Eichler et al., 2017;Workman et al., 2021). This can make identification and interpretation of metallurgical evidence very difficult. ...
Rock magnetism has a significant potential to elucidate archaeological issues related to firing process owing to the strong dependence of clay magnetic properties on firing conditions. The present study is an attempt to characterize some basic fuel installations (hearths, household ovens, pottery kilns, kilns for building ceramics and metallurgical ovens) by the most common magnetic parameters (magnetic remanence, initial magnetic susceptibility, Koenigsberger ratio, frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility and viscosity coefficient), accumulating a set of relevant magnetic data for exemplary structures. Rasmussen method was used for firing temperature determinations.
It is concluded that household ovens, used for cooking/heating activities only, were fired at temperatures below 500 °C. The acquired thermoremanence is in most cases partial TRM, generally less than 800 mA/m, the measured magnetic susceptibility does not exceed 300× 10−8m3/kg, and the corresponding Q ratios are mostly below 10. Experimentally baked clays show that already a firing at temperatures slightly above 500 °C yield much stronger and more stable TRM, and higher χ and Q ratio. Hearth and pottery kilns appear indistinguishable at this research stage, but systematically higher Q ratios were observed for the pottery kilns. Rising the temperature in the kilns for building ceramics and metallurgical ovens causes formation of a higher proportion of coarse-grained hematite and epsilon iron oxide, resulting in thermoremanence increase and magnetic susceptibility decrease.
Firing temperatures determined for the household ovens corroborate well the observed magnetic parameters indicating a maximum operating temperature of not more than 460–470 °C. On the other hand, they appear to be underestimated when the highest firing intensity was expected (at T > 900 °C). This is indicative that further studies in this aspect are needed. The slags studied fail to produce any feasible result in terms of their firing temperatures, probably because of their strong inhomogeneity and/or complicated firing history. There is an excellent agreement between the estimated temperatures for clays baked in an experimental dual chamber kiln and the thermocouple readings. Differences in firing atmosphere between archaeological structures (or their experimental analogues) and laboratory furnaces probably have the least effect on low-temperature heated objects (i.e., household ovens) and the strongest on high-temperature ones where reducing conditions dominate that should be taken into account in the data interpretation. An overestimation of Tfiring can happen for low-temperature materials due to possible intense magnetic transformations above 600 °C.
... The first EOF in QU-18 (Hong et al. 2004;Uglietti et al. 2015;Eichler et al. 2017) (Figure 3.13 (Nriagu 1989;Hong et al. 2004; Meter, Atkinson, and Laliberte 2019). ...
... Cu and Ag metal production was widespread among ancient civilizations in the Central Andes region (Eichler et al. 2015; as suggested by the metal clustering in the EOFs. Considering the uncertainty of the 14 C dates, the age of the QNB-18 ice core ranges from 330 BCE to 180 CE placing the chemical signature during the Early Horizon pre-Columbian cultural period (1000 BCE to 200 CE), a period of advanced metallurgy production in ancient Peruvian Charipa and Chavin civilizations (Eichler et al. 2017). Collecting additional ice cores from the Central Andes for ultra-high-resolution glaciochemical measurements could allow for significant gains in further understanding ancient civilizations that were located within this region. ...
... Eichler et al. 2015Eichler et al. , 2017Osmont et al. 2019;Lindau et al. 2020).Andean ice cores exhibit strong seasonal variations of isotopic and chemical compositions that reflect the alternation of wet and dry seasons, allowing for annual layer detection. Previous studies have demonstrated that the concurrence of isotope records in the Andes are important for strengthening interpretations of ice core records on long-term decadal/inter-decadal scales and the potential to link the past climate of the moist eastern and arid western cordilleras (G.Hoffmann et al. 2003;L. ...
The goal of this dissertation is to assess past and present changes in the chemical climate of three high mountain regions: the Himalayas, Peruvian Andes, European Alps. In the first analysis, we report a comprehensive case study of chemical composition from streams, snow samples, and an ice core collected from around Mt. Everest Basecamp in the Khumbu region of Nepal during the late pre-monsoon period. Our findings document the 2019 pre-monsoon season, detailing chemistry from Cyclone Fani, spatial variability in snow and stream chemistry, and addressing potential pollution hazards, including the presence of heightened Pb in local streams and possible chemical signature of human waste. This is the first study to characterize the chemical composition of Khumbu Glacier ice/meltwater and create a detailed framework for pre-monsoon snow/water chemistry for the region. The second study details the correspondence in chemical climate resulting from two regional Central Andean firn cores (Quelccaya ice cap, Peru (5470 m asl) and Nevado Illimani glacier, Bolivia (6350 m asl)) and investigates the environmental proxies associated with Central Andean climate. The results show that the Quelccaya core has well-preserved environmental signals despite meltwater percolation, the two regional ice core records contain comparable signals and similar regional scale climatology, and past records of anthropogenic emissions, dust sources, volcanic emissions, forest fire signatures, evaporite salts, and marine-sourced air masses are evident within the cores. Moreover, annual layer thickness established from ultra-high-resolution chemical measurements on a near-basal ice core from the Quelccaya glacier indicates that Quelccaya ice cores drilled to bedrock may be ~1000 years older or more than previously suggested by depth-age models. Lastly, the third study focuses on a 2100-year record of heavy metals (Pb, As, Cd, Bi, Cu) extracted from a European Alps ice core, which is the first known case in which these elements have been observed in unison and at this resolution for this timespan in the European Alps. Chemical signatures resulting from decomposition analyses indicate a strong relationship between Pb, As, and Cd, a connection between Cu and marine chemistry (Na, K), and Bi retaining a unique signal that exhibits a distinct increase during the pre-industrial revolution between 1710-1850CE. We hypothesize that heavy metal concentrations likely reflect the timing of emerging technological advances related to the industrial revolution and periods of important past societal eras, including expanding mining activities, pandemics, and wars. In the Appendix, we address the importance of data analysis and visualizations in the field of Earth and Climate Sciences.
