Evidence of tumbaga from the Sipan royal tombs, Peru

Earlier in this blog I mentioned that word tumbaga is used both in the Philippines and across the Pacific in the Americas to refer to a gold-copper alloy.

At one time it was thought that both the word and technology had crossed the seas from the Philippines to the Americas during Spanish times with the trade galleons. Tumbaga involves depletion gilding or electrochemical replacement to make the alloy appear as pure gold on the surface -- on both sides of the Pacific

However, the archaeological evidence clearly shows that tumbaga technology was known in the Americas long before Columbus sailed to America.

An abstract of a recent study (below) of the royal tombs of Sipan in Peru shows that there was evidence of tumbaga among the Moche between between 50 and 700 CE.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

---
Appl Radiat Isot. 2009 Sep 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Pre-Columbian alloys from the royal tombs of Sipán; energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis with a portable equipment.

Cesareo R, Calza C, Dos Anjos M, Lopes RT, Bustamante A, Fabian S J, Alva W, Chero Z L.

Dip. di Matematica e Fisica, Università di Sassari, via Vienna 2, 07100, Sassari, Italy.

On the north coast of present-day Peru flourished approximately between 50 and 700 AD, the Moche civilization. It was an advanced culture and the Moche were sophisticated metalsmiths, so that they are considered as the finest producers of jewels and artefacts of the region. The Moche metalworking ability was impressively demonstrated by the objects discovered by Walter Alva and coworkers in 1987, in the excavations of the "Tumbas Reales de Sipán". About 50 metal objects from these excavations, now at the namesake Museum, in Lambayeque, north of Peru, were analyzed with a portable equipment using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. This portable equipment is mainly composed of a small size X-ray tube and a thermoelectrically cooled X-ray detector. Standard samples of gold and silver alloys were employed for quantitative analysis. It was determined that the analyzed artefacts from the "Tumbas Reales de Sipán" are mainly composed of gold, silver and copper alloys, of gilded copper and of tumbaga, the last being a poor gold alloy enriched at the surface by depletion gilding, i.e. removing copper from the surface.

Coconut evidence supports Pre-Columbian journeys across the Pacific

Somehow I missed the following article when if first came out despite my subscription to the Coconut Study mailing list!

Baudouin, L & Lebrun, L (2008) Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) DNA studies support the hypothesis of an ancient Austronesian migration from Southeast Asia to America. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 56 (2), 257-262.

Abstract The centre of origin of coconut extends from Southwest Asia to Melanesia. Nevertheless, its pre-Columbian existence on the Pacific coast of America is attested. This raises questions about how, when and from where coconut reached America. Our molecular marker study relates the pre-Columbian coconuts to coconuts from the Philippines rather than to those of any other Pacific region, especially Polynesia. Such an origin rules out the possibility of natural dissemination by the sea currents. Our findings corroborate the interpretation of a complex of artefacts found in the Bahía de Caraquez (Ecuador) as related to South-East Asian cultures. Coconut thus appears to have been brought by Austronesian seafarers from the Philippines to Ecuador about 2,250 years BP. We discuss the implications of molecular evidence for assessing the possible contribution of early trans-pacific travels to and from America to the dissemination of domesticated plants and animals.

Again this appears to be a landmark find that was completely ignored by the mainstream Western press.

The article was published along with a number of relevant studies that came out around the same time on Pre-Columbian chickens in the Americas, along with Pre-Columbian Datura metel and custard apple in South Asia.

The coconut study is based on examination of DNA microsatellite markers and the distribution of varieties that are resistant to the Lethal Yellowing diseases, which are transmitted by insects. For some discussion on the Ecuadorian cultures mentioned in the abstract, see my posts on fish hooks, fish poisons, Solheim's theory on Pre-Columbian contacts, migrations along the Kuroshio Current, and plants across the Pacific.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Parasites as probes for transoceanic human migrations?

A new study supports earlier evidence from parasite studies suggesting a seaborne migration to the Americas. This study seems to mainly analyze data from previous research involving helminths found in mummies and coprolites (dung fossils). There has been a flurry of articles recently supporting the theory of transpacific or transoceanic Pre-Columbian contact and/or migration between Asia and the Americas. Helminths are not found in Siberia, Alaska or northern Canada. One South American mummy that contained helminth (Ancylostoma duodenale) eggs dated back to 1500 BCE.

Trends Parasitol. 2008 Mar;24(3):112-5.

Epub 2008 Feb 11.

Parasites as probes for prehistoric human migrations?

Araujo A, Reinhard KJ, Ferreira LF, Gardner SL.

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz/Escola Nacional de Saude Publica; Rua Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480, Rio de Janeiro 2104-210, RJ, Brazil.

Host-specific parasites of humans are used to track ancient migrations. Based on archaeoparasitology, it is clear that humans entered the New World at least twice in ancient times. The archaeoparasitology of some intestinal parasites in the New World points to migration routes other than the Bering Land Bridge. Helminths have been found in mummies and coprolites in North and South America. Hookworms (Necator and Ancylostoma), whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) and other helminths require specific conditions for life-cycle completion. They could not survive in the cold climate of the northern region of the Americas. Therefore, humans would have lost some intestinal parasites while crossing Beringia. Evidence is provided here from published data of pre-Columbian sites for the peopling of the Americas through trans-oceanic or coastal migrations.

Pre-Columbian Custard Apple in India

Another recent study suggests that an American crop, the custard apple (Annona squamosa) -- was present in India during pre-Columbian times. The discovery of custard apple seed at the Neolithic site of Tokwa is very early, but it would tend to confirm other previous identifications of fruit coat and seeds respectively at Kushan and Iron Age Punjab sites. Custard apples appear to be represented artistically at the 3rd-1st century BCE Sunga dynasty sites of Bharhut, Mathura and Sanchi, identifications made originally by Sitholey and Cunningham.

The authors also mention the archaeological identification of various American beans e.g., the kidney bean or common bean (Phaselous vulgaris), sierra bean (Phaseolus lunatus) and phasemy bean (Phaseolus lathyroides) in peninsular India and a weed Mexican poppy (Argemone
mexicana) in Uttara Pradesh, all from very early sites. They conclude that the evidence argues in favor of pre-Columbian contacts between America and Asia.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Palaeoethnobotanical record of cultivated crops and associated weeds and wild taxa from Neolithic site, Tokwa, Uttar Pradesh, India

Anil K. Pokharia Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53, University Road, Lucknow 226 007, India

Investigation of botanical remains from an ancient site, Tokwa at the confluence of Belan and Adwa rivers, Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh (UP), has brought to light the agriculture-based subsistence economy during the Neolithic culture (3rd–2nd millennium BC). They subsisted on cereals, viz. Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum and Hordeum vulgare, supplemented by leguminous seeds of Lens culinaris, Pisum arvense and Vigna radiata. Evidence of oil-yielding crops has been documented by recovery of seeds of Linum usitatissimum and Brassica juncea. Fortuitously, an important find among the botanical remains is the seeds of South American custard apple, regarded to have been introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The remains of custard apple as fruit coat and seeds have also been recorded from other sites in the Indian archaeological context, during the Kushana Period (AD 100–300) in Punjab and Early Iron Age (1300–700 BC) in UP. The factual remains of custard apple, along with other stray finds discussed in the text, favour a group of specialists, supporting with diverse arguments, the reasoning of Asian–American contacts, before the discovery of America by Columbus in 1498. Further, a few weeds have turned up as an admixture in the crop remains."

Full article at:

http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan252008/248.pdf

Datura transported from 'New' to 'Old' World in Pre-Columbian Period

A study released in December, 2007 suggests that at least one species of the plant Datura (D. metel) was transported by humans from the "New World" to the "Old World" at least by the early first millennium BCE.

The researchers believe the transfer to India was either transpacific through Southeast Asia or transatlantic through Africa. At a later date, the plant was diffused from India to North Africa and the Middle East during Muslim times and from there to Europe. They suggest further research in the Southeast Asia/Pacific and African regions to determine the route that Datura took to reach India.

The full article can be found here in pdf form:

http://www.ias.ac.in/jbiosci/dec2007/1227.pdf


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento
---

J Biosci. 2007 Dec;32(7):1227-44. Links

Historical evidence for a pre-Columbian presence of Datura in the Old World and implications for a first millennium transfer from the New World.

Geeta R, Gharaibeh W.

Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Science and Arts,Jordan University of Science and Technology,PO Box 3030,Irbid 22110,Jordan, geeta@life.bio.sunysb.edu.

Datura (Solanaceae) is a small genus of plants that, for long,was thought to occur naturally in both the New and Old Worlds. However,recent studies indicate that all species in the genus originated in the Americas. This finding has prompted the conclusion that no species of Datura could have been present in the Old World prior to its introduction there by Europeans in the early 16th century CE. Further, the textual evidence traditionally cited in support of a pre-Columbian Old World presence of Datura species is suggested to be due to the misreading of classical Greek and Arabic sources. As a result, botanists generally accept the opinion that Datura species were transferred into the Old World in the post-Columbian period.While the taxonomic and geographic evidence for a New World origin for all the Datura species appears to be well supported, the assertion that Datura species were not known in the Old World prior to the 16th century is based on a limited examination of the pre-Columbian non-Anglo sources. We draw on old Arabic and Indic texts and southern Indian iconographic representations to show that there is conclusive evidence for the pre-Columbian presence of at least one species of Datura in the Old World. Given the systematic evidence for a New World origin of the genus,the most plausible explanation for this presence is a relatively recent but pre-Columbian (probably first millennium CE) transfer of at least one Datura species, D. metel, into the Old World. Because D. metel is a domesticated species with a disjunct distribution, this might represent an instance of human-mediated transport from the New World to the Old World, as in the case of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas).