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NATIVE AMERICAN
GOLD
LATE STONE AGE
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COPYRIGHT FEBRUARY 28, 2011 PETER A. BOSTROM
Abstract image of gold nuggets and artifact drawing.
DRAWINGS OF A GOLD OBJECT
DISCOVERED IN A MOUND IN FLORIDA

Abstract image of gold artifacts.

ABSTRACT
NATIVE AMERICAN GOLD
LATE STONE AGE

   This article illustrates and describes several examples of gold artifacts that were reported to have been found in mounds in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. Most of them were described in old Smithsonian reports in the late 1800's. This article focuses on those that have been discovered in the eastern United States but also illustrates a few additional gold artifacts from other countries. Gold was not traditionally used by Native American Indians. It's barely mentioned in the archaeological record.

    "Although gold in the form of nuggets occurs in more than one section of the continent north of Mexico, the tribes in general were practically without knowledge of its use."---------1912, Frederick Webb Hodge, "Handbook Of American Indians North Of Mexico," p. 495.
    "In later times, gold and silver were picked up on the Florida coast from wrecked Spanish treasure ships, and the Choctaw got silver by raiding the Caddo Indians after they had taken it from the Spaniards."
---------1957, Emma Lila Fundaburk & Mary Douglass Fundaburk Foreman, "Sun circles And Human hands," p. 35.
    "In a few cases objects of gold have been obtained from mounds in the Ohio valley, notably in the Turner group, Hamilton County, Ohio, where a small copper pendant was found retaining traces of a thin plating of gold, and bits of the filmy sheet were also found in the debris."---------1912, Frederick Webb Hodge, "Handbook Of American Indians North Of Mexico," p. 495.
    "Some rudely shaped and perforated gold beads were found in one of the Etowah mounds and finds of slight importance are reported from other localities."
---------1912, Frederick Webb Hodge, "Handbook Of American Indians North Of Mexico," p. 495.

Drawings of gold object from Florida.
NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN GOLD
LATE STONE AGE

    Although gold does occur in several areas of the United States, the use of gold by native American Indians is almost unknown. There was no traditional use of gold. In fact, where artifacts made of gold have been reported in the U.S, the largest percentage of them were apparently manufactured from European shipwreck gold rather than from locally collected raw nuggets. The most significant and recently dated artifacts have been discovered in burial mounds in Florida. Most of these artifacts are believed to have been made from looted Spanish gold that was retrieved from shipwrecks. But some of the gold artifacts that have been found on mound sites in Ohio and Georgia probably date to an earlier period.

Drawing of gold object found in Manatee Co., Florida.
GOLD BIRD
MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA
EUROPEAN CONTACT

     This artistic golden sculpture was discovered in 1877 in the center of a mound in Manatee County, in southern Florida. It was discovered in two pieces. The drawing is taken from a Smithsonian Annual Report where it was described by Charles Rau. His description identified the bird as an ivory billed woodpecker. It was cut from a thin piece of gold plate that probably came from a Spanish shipwreck. It was carved into the head of an ivory billed woodpecker on one end and an elongated stylized neck of the bird that forms a knife-like blade on the other end. The object was sent to the Smithsonian for study by Damon Greenleaf. It measures 9 inches long and is one millimeter thick. The metal is actually a gold silver alloy that contains 1.366 ounces of gold and .164 troy ounces of silver. The clerk of the Bureau of Statistics at the Mint in Philadelphia calculated its composition and weight. It's interesting to note that in 1877 the US Mint gave its metal value as $28.45.

    Native American Indians were using three types of malleable metals in the form of copper, silver and gold. The use of gold and silver is insignificant when compared to the amount of copper that was used. Over a period of several thousand years, Archaic, Woodland and Mississippian people were making many different types of tools and ornaments out of copper. Silver was used over a wide area in the eastern U.S. by the Middle Woodland Hopewell, but only in very small amounts compared to copper. Gold was the least used and is barely recorded in the archaeological record.

Drawings of three gold artifacts from Florida.
THREE GOLD OBJECTS
SUMTER & ORANGE COUNTIES, FLORIDA
EUROPEAN CONTACT

     These three drawings are taken from an old Smithsonian Annual Report that describes them as two gold pendants and one gold disc. They were probably all made from Spanish gold that was retrieved from shipwrecks. The pendant on the left is reported to have been found in a mound in Sumter County, Florida. It's shape is long and narrow with straight sides and bottom and convex on one face and flat on the other. It measures 2 3/4 inches long and is grooved on one end. The pendant in the center is from Orange County where it was found with a burial in a mound. Its described as rectangular in shape and corner-notched on one end. It was worn as a pendant along with several glass beads that were also found with the burial. The disc on the right was found in a mound in Orange County, Florida. It's described as being 3 1/2 inches in diameter and made from a thin sheet of gold with repousse dimples around the edge and a circle design in the center.

     Early accounts, from Smithsonian reports, describe gold artifacts that were found in mounds in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. But these are few in number. Five artifacts are described from mounds in Florida. The most interesting artifact is an object that was cut from a thin piece of gold plate. The head of an ivory billed woodpecker is carved on one end of an elongated stylized neck that extends outward to form a knife-like blade. The object was discovered in 1877 and sent to the Smithsonian for study by Damon Greenleaf. It was found in the center of a mound in Manatee County, in southern Florida and recovered in two pieces. It measures 9 inches long and is one millimeter thick. The metal is actually a gold silver alloy that contains 1.366 ounces of gold and .164 troy ounces of silver. The clerk of the Bureau of Statistics at the Mint in Philadelphia calculated its composition and weight. It's interesting to note that in 1877 the US Mint gave its metal value as $28.45.

Gold artifacts in the Gold Museum in Bogota, Columbia.
GOLD ARTIFACTS
GOLD MUSEUM
BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA

    This picture shows one of the display cases in the Gold Museum in Bogotá, Columbia. The picture was taken on a color slide many years ago. The display shows a wide array of what appears to be mainly plates, bowls and bracelets.

    Two gold pendants are reported from Florida mounds. One of the pendants was found in Orange County in a mound with a burial. Its described as rectangular in shape and corner-notched on one end. It was worn as a pendant along with several glass beads that were also found with the burial. Another pendant is reported from a mound in Sumter County. It's shape is long and narrow with straight sides and bottom and convex on one face and flat on the other. It measures 2 3/4 inches long and is grooved on one end.

Gold artifacts in the Gold Museum in Bogota, Columbia.
GOLD ARTIFACTS
GOLD MUSEUM
BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA

    None of the gold in the Gold Museum came from documented excavations. Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff writes in "Goldwork And Shamanism" that, "All we know is that they (the artifacts) were removed from tombs and offering sites by "guaqueros" (tomb looters." This picture shows another photograph that was taken in the Gold Museum many years ago of another group of extraordinary golden artifacts.

    Two gold discs are also reported from Florida mounds. They were both found in Orange County. One is described as being 3 1/2 inches in diameter and made from a thin sheet of gold with repousse dimples around the edge and a circle design in the center. The other disc is described as measuring 2 1/2 inches in diameter and made from a thin piece of gold-silver alloy that has no decoration but is perforated in the center.

Gold artifacts in the Gold Museum in Bogota, Columbia.
GOLD ARTIFACTS
GOLD MUSEUM
BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA

    More examples of gold artifacts from the Gold Museum in Bogotá, Columbia.

    Early discoveries of a few gold beads have been reported from the vicinity of the large mounds on the Etowah site in Barstow County. They are described as rudely shaped and perforated and were probably made from natural gold nuggets. Gold was first discovered in North Carolina in 1799. Then discoveries of gold were made in Georgia, Alabama and Virginia. Gold was mined continuously in Georgia from the 1820's through 1933. There are at least 500 old gold mines recorded in Georgia where nuggets that weighed up to 54 ounces have been found.

Gold artifacts in the Gold Museum in Bogota, Columbia.
GOLD ARTIFACTS
GOLD MUSEUM
BOGOTÁ, COLUMBIA

    This picture shows two more cases of gold artifacts in the Gold Museum. The case on the right show several exceptionally fine examples of necklaces. One necklace has a large pendant in the shape of a human hanging in the center.

    Ohio has also produced a few objects made of gold. They are reported from mounds in the Ohio Valley from the Turner group in Hamilton, County. A copper pendant is reported to have been found that had traces of a thin plating of gold. Moorehead is also reported to have discovered some gold beads on another mound group. It's interesting to note that the owner of the property was assured by Moorehead that there was no gold or silver to be found there, but Moorehead was told to leave after the owner discovered he did find some gold beads.

Pre-Columbian gold artifact depicting people on a raft.
GOLDEN RAFT
PRE-COLUMBIAN GOLD

    A fine example of pre-Columbian gold work. It depicts several people standing on a raft.

   It might seem odd that gold was hardly ever used by native American Indians. Especially when so many different countries and cultures around the world have prized gold for so many different reasons. When compared to other raw materials that were traded over long distances such as copper, Obsidian, shells & mica, gold would have been much harder to find and collect. It didn't serve any utilitarian purpose and there were no religious connections with gold. So as a result the use of gold by native American Indians was not traditional. Its use was just random and opportunistic.

Ethnographic gold jewelry from india.
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
INDIAN JEWELRY
INDIA

    This picture shows a close-up view of some fine quality gold jewelry from India. The India custom of wearing jewelry has an unbroken history going back 5,000 years. Women traditionally accumulate silver and gold jewelry as a form of monetary savings that can be used in times of common disasters such as drought, food, famine, political upheaval, etc. Different jewelry designs can identify where a person comes from and even their status within the group.

    One of the world's greatest dramas was played out by the Europeans search for gold in the New World. The Europeans intentions were made clear from the beginning when Cortes tells Moctezuma's envoys that the Spanish suffered from a strange malady for which the only cure was gold. The Europeans search for wealth in the New World resulted in the death's of millions of people, mostly from disease, and either destroyed or radically changed many large and complex cultures forever. In 1492 Europe possessed approximately $200 million worth of gold and silver. By 1600 the amount increased to about one billion six hundred thousand. An Aztec native commented that, "They thirsted mightily for gold, they stuffed themselves with it, they starved for it, and they lusted for it like pigs."

Pouring a gold bar in the south African mine.
POURING A GOLD BAR
SOUTH AFRICAN MINE

    The people in this picture are demonstrating the technique of pouring a gold bar.

     It's fortunate that gold wasn't used traditionally by native American Indians. For if the reverse was true, archaeological sites across the U.S. would have been dug up long ago. A Brazilian native once asked, "Why are Kuben (Europeans) so hungry for gold?" It's a question that's been repeated by native peoples in the New World for hundreds of years.

"REFERENCES"

1870, Stephenson, M. F., "Account Of Ancient Mounds In General," Annual Report Of The Board Of Regents Of The Smithsonian Institution, pp. 280-381.
1877
, Rau, Charles, "Observations On A Gold Ornament From A Mound In Florida," Annual Report Of The Board Of Regents Of The Smithsonian Institution, pp. 298-302.
1912, Hodge, Frederick Webb, "Gold," Handbook Of American Indians North Of Mexico, pp. 495-496.
1957
, Fundaburk, Emma Lila & Foreman, Mary Douglass Fundaburk, "Sun circles And Human hands," p. 35.
1984
, Lea, Vanessa, "Brazil's Kayapo Indians Beset By A Golden Curse," National Geographic, Vol. 165, No. 5. p. 675.
1988
, Mack, John, "Ethnic Jewelry," pp. 65-66.
1991
, Fagan, Brian, "Kingdoms Of Gold, Kingdoms Of Jade, The Americas Before Columbus," p. 229.
2000
, Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo, (Goldwork And Shamanism, An Iconographic Study Of The Gold Museum," p.17.
2003
, Quilter, Jeffrey & Hoopes, John W., "Gold And Power In Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, And Columbia," p.1.
Personal Communication
with Brad Lepper.

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