Abstract
The Tacuil settlement, in the Calchaquí Valleys, presents different types of evidence related to metallurgical activities. This research expands the dataset of previous analyses by including four metal prills and one lump, five copper-bearing minerals, and metal residues from eight metallurgical ceramics found during recent new archaeological fieldwork. SEM-EDS and SF-ICP-MS analyses of these samples indicate that unalloyed copper and various copper alloys were cast at the site (bronze, arsenical copper, Cu+As+Sb), as well as gold and silver alloys. The identification of atacamite debris at the site suggests the use of this ore type for smelting, although copper sulfides and arsenic-rich ores must also have been employed in the manufacture of metal objects. The first two lead isotope analyses of metal samples from the site, along with one from a copper–gold deposit in Catamarca—an available ore source for pre-Columbian metallurgical activities in the region—provide a starting point for exploring the provenance of the copper ores used by Tacuil inhabitants in the Late Intermediate Period and Late Horizon.