A heavy-metal history in Peru

摘要

A dirty little secret lies buried at the bottom of a lake in Peru. According to new research published in this issue of ES&T (pp 3469-3474), the lake sediments contain evidence that pre-Incan cultures in the Morococha region of the Andes were smelting copper and its alloys from ore as early as A.D. 1000, leaving behind traces of metal pollution. The Andean people later switched to silver when Incas moved into the area around A.D. 1450.