Blowing Fire: Exploring Ancient Amerindian Metallurgy Through a Furnace Model

In this article we reflect on the reconstruction and operation of a lung-powered, portable melting furnace used by ancient Amerindian goldsmiths. Variations of this kind of furnace were operated by different metallurgical traditions in the northern Andes and Mesoamerica to transform refined metals and alloys like tumbaga (copper and gold) into metalworks such as ornamental artefacts. The social and technological shifts that began in the sixteenth century, particularly following European contact, led to a progressive decline of the ancient Amerindian melting procedures associated with these metallurgical furnaces. Our research utilises performative and reconstructive methods to offer a reparative approach to this lost fire-and-wind technology, taking the Quimbaya furnace as a working model. By assessing the historical and archaeological evidence as well as more intangible experiential insights from our reconstruction, we intend to understand the functioning of such furnaces, and to suggest embodied and social meanings of the arts of fire among ancient communities in the tropical valleys of the Andes.