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Pectoral

Culture
Calima
Date
c.500
Material
Gold
Current Location
On View, Gallery 112
Dimensions
11 7/16 x 11 7/16 in. (29 x 29 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Morton D. May
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
218:1979
NOTES
Goldworking began in the Andes as far back as 2000 BCE, and the technology moved slowly northward over the centuries. By the early centuries CE, metallurgists in what is now Colombia made finely wrought metal objects using a variety of processes, including repoussé, in which thin metal sheets are hammered over a carved surface, and lost-wax, in which molten gold or silver melts a mold of wax encased in earth or clay. Some objects were made using a combination of these.

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