[Aztlan] LAGUNA GUATAVITA ambers not in geological or archaeological records of Central or South America

[Mario Cabrejos]

      Archaeometry
      Volume 48 Page 633  - November 2006
      doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00277.x 
      Volume 48 Issue 4 
        
        
      THE AMBER OF EL DORADO: CLASS IB ARCHAEOLOGICAL AMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH LAGUNA GUATAVITA * 
      K. B. ANDERSON 1?and W. BRAY 2 
     
      Laguna Guatavita, a crater-like lake located in central Colombia, was used by pre-Columbian Muisca people for a variety of socio-religious ceremonies, many of which involved casting offerings into the lake. Of these, the installation of a new 'king' became the basis of the El Dorado myth that was carried back to Europe by 16th century conquistadores. In the present study, beads collected from Laguna Guatavita during a late 19th/early 20th century attempt to recover valuables from the lake bed, have been subjected to geochemical analysis. Results establish that these artefacts have been fabricated from Class Ib amber. Class Ib ambers have not previously been reported in either the geological or archaeological records of Central or South America, and their existence in this context implies that the Muisca people had access to a unique local or regional source of amber, knowledge of which has subsequently been lost.
     


      1Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA 
      2Institute of Archaeology, University College London (emeritus), 29 Clarence Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 4NP, UK
     
     

     
      ?Corresponding author: email kanderson at geo.siu.edu