Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Sold for $482,000 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

fearn · 11th June 2009, 08:10 PM

Hi Tim,

The only archeologically supported iron working in the Americas prior to 1491 (and ignoring the Norse!) was the iron used by the Greenland eskimos from the Cape York meteorite, going back ~1000 years. That was essentially modified stone-working, not forging. I suspect the material was traded fairly widely in the Arctic, simply because they traded chert and other tool stones as well. Otherwise, blacksmithing was brought in by the Europeans.

I don't know of any evidence for any North American bronze smithing, either. Most of the metal work seems to have been confined to the Andes, with gold working reaching up into Mexico (the Aztecs).

Best,

F

11th June 2009, 08:10 PM	#40
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Tim, The only archeologically supported iron working in the Americas prior to 1491 (and ignoring the Norse!) was the iron used by the Greenland eskimos from the Cape York meteorite, going back ~1000 years. That was essentially modified stone-working, not forging. I suspect the material was traded fairly widely in the Arctic, simply because they traded chert and other tool stones as well. Otherwise, blacksmithing was brought in by the Europeans. I don't know of any evidence for any North American bronze smithing, either. Most of the metal work seems to have been confined to the Andes, with gold working reaching up into Mexico (the Aztecs). Best, F