title: The strange case of the earliest silver extraction by European colonists in the New World.
abstract: La Isabela, the first European town in the New World, was established in 1494 by the second expedition of Christopher Columbus but was abandoned by 1498. The main motive for settlement was to find and exploit deposits of precious metals. Archaeological evidence of silver extraction at La Isabela seemed to indicate that the expedition had located and tested deposits of silver-bearing lead ore in the Caribbean. Lead isotope analysis refutes this hypothesis but provides new evidence of the desperation of the inhabitants of La Isabela just before its abandonment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. amthibod@email.arizona.edu
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Thibodeau
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Killick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chesley
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deagan
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cruxent
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lyman
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology; D049668:History, 15th Century; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008906:Mining / Q000266:history*; D012834:Silver; D013440:Sulfides / Q000032:analysis*; D014900:West Indies
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides; C018391:lead sulfide; D007854:Lead; D012834:Silver