That's interesting Jose. For these non-silver black oxidized pieces, I wonder if there might be some arsenic also in the mix. Some oxides of arsenic can be very black in appearance. I seem to recall that arsenic has some mystical properties in mainland SE Asia--certainly some of the Hmong who live in the Twin Cities used arsenic for medicinal purposes and I was told by members of that community that arsenic is a powerful substance in their culture.
Ian.
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