The Mining of Gems and Ornamental Stones by American Indians (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Anthropological Papers, No. 13)

Ball, Sydney H

Editore: United States Government Printing Office, 1941

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THE MINING OF GEMS AND ORNAMENTAL STONES BY AMERICAN INDIANS (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Anthropological Papers, No. 13, from Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 128, pp.xi-77), Sydney H. Ball, softcover, illustrated (photo, drawing, map, tables), 1941. ITEM CONDITION: good. The text block and illustrations are in very good condition with no tears, dog-ears, or marks. Pages are age-toned, and the lower righthand corner is crinkled. There is no bookplate or signature of a prior owner. This is not a library book nor a remainder. The green wraps are in fairly good condition (fading and discoloring along edges and spine). 9 x 6, 79 pages, 10 ounces XX [From the introduction] When Europeans arrived in America they found the American Indian largely in the Stone Age, although a number of tribes, and particularly those of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Peru, used certain metals. Imbued with our conception of racial superiority, we rarely think of the Indian as a capable prospector and a patient, if primitive, miner. Yet the rapid development of mining in Mexico and Peru after the conquest was mainly owing to the large number of ore bodies opened up by the local Aborigines. Lust on the part of the Spaniards for gold, silver, and precious stones and, to express it mildly, canny concerns on the part of the English and French for such wealth, were the activating forces behind much of the exploration of America. Both to the American Indian and the white man, mineral products were essential, but the former used coal mainly as an ornament and petroleum as a liniment, while the latter could not be inveigled to rush a new obsidian find to supply weapons of war. This article treats of the gems and ornamental stones used by the Indian before he came in contact with the white man. His metal mining has been frequently described: the pits he dug on the Lake Superior copper range; his exploitation of the mercury mines of New Almaden and Peru for paint, his placer mining in Georgia, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Northwestern South America, and Brazil; And his gold and silver lode mining in Mexico and Peru.

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• Titolo: The Mining of Gems and Ornamental Stones by American Indians (Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Anthropological Papers, No. 13)
• Editore: United States Government Printing Office
• Data di pubblicazione: 1941
• Lingua: Inglese
• Rilegatura: Soft cover
• Condizione: Good
• Condizione della sovraccoperta: No Jacket
• Cataloghi dei venditori:
  • Mining
  • Gems
  • Native Americans