Indigenous silver jewellery of Northern Patagonia (19th century): a first analytical approach to composite objects

Abstract

A set of Mapuche–Tehuelche composite silver jewellery items, produced in the 19th century and collected in a same indigenous camp in 1896, belonging to the La Vaulx's collection held at the Musée du Quai Branly (Paris), was observed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope and X‐radiography, and analysed by PIXE with a 3‐MeV external proton micro‐beam. We aimed to check if these jewels used daily by women evolved during their owners' lifetime, through the analysis of the alloys employed in their making and the silversmith's technologies.Results showed that the jewels were manufactured by different silversmiths, yet using the same workshop traditions. Silver‐based alloys of different compositions were identified. The presence of high Zn and Ni contents in many parts of certain items denotes the use of nickel silver alloys not by direct use of coins and native metals as expected but by remelting and reuse of coins and objects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.