title: Ice-core evidence of earliest extensive copper metallurgy in the Andes 2700 years ago.
abstract: 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 Moche culture ~200-800 AD, whereas peat-bog records from southern South America suggest earliest pollution potentially from Cu smelting as far back as ~2000 BC. Here we present a 6500-years Cu emission history for the Andean Altiplano, based on ice-core records from Illimani glacier in Bolivia, providing the first complete history of large-scale Cu smelting activities in South America. We find earliest anthropogenic Cu pollution during the Early Horizon period ~700-50 BC, and attribute the onset of intensified Cu smelting in South America to the activities of the central Andean Chiripa and Chavin cultures ~2700 years ago. This study provides for the first time substantial evidence for extensive Cu metallurgy already during these early cultures.
authors.affiliation: Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.|Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.affiliation: Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.|Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.|Department for Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gramlich
authors.affiliation: Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.|Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kellerhals
authors.affiliation: Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.|Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tobler
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK.|College for Humanities and Social Sciences, HBKU Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rehren
authors.affiliation: Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.|Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.|Department for Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwikowski