Past: Technologies of the pre-Hispanic and Colonial Americas

This hybrid event will examine the ingenuity of selected pre-Hispanic technologies across the varied environments of the continent.

Attendance is either in-person at the South Lecture Room, Department of Archaeology, or online (please register here).

Lina Campos Quintero (Museo del Oro, Banco de la República):

Zenú and Malibú social value of metals: Understanding long lasting pre-Hispanic metallurgies in Colombia to curate an exhibition

Research questions in the context of curating an exhibition are usually shaped by the collection’s nature and the audience's needs. The renovation of the Zenu Gold Museum in Colombia demanded the close understanding of Zenú and Malibú metallurgies from the Caribbean lowlands and the lower-Magdalena region, a long tradition that lasted for almost 1800 years, to define where, when and how these objects were made and used. Although the permanent exhibition recently opened, some of the research questions remained and need further investigation.  Broader archaeological discussions, such as those addressed by the REVERSEACTION project (https://reverseaction.org/), shape the research approach now. This is the story of an ongoing project that seeks to analyse a large range of gold artefacts to provide evidence of the sharing and adaptation of knowledge, tradition and social value of the alloys between the “Zenú” and “Malibú” peoples. Furthermore, this study explores the incorporation of colonial metals such as iron, buried along with gold objects in funerary contexts.

Marianne Sallum (Universidade de Lisboa, Universidade de São Paulo):

The Pots and the Senses: the itinerancy of Paulistaware in communities of practices, São Paulo - Brazil
 

The Paulistaware resulted from the connection between generations of women potters, linked together by technology, practice, consumption, meanings, and memories. It was initially produced by the tupiniquins in an alliance with the Portuguese in the São Paulo. These practices continue through several generations of women, including those who came from abroad. In the context of these relationships, materialities and foods were used, appropriated and transformed, through choices that intertwined old technologies with novelties and cultural and identity changes. The persistence of these communities led to ways of making and using ceramic vessels, shaping values, and social relations that defined the Paulista identity.