|SUSAN LANIECE

|DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

|BR |ITISH MUSEUM

| |Abstract: A program of scientific and technological study of the collection of Pre-Hispanic gold at the British Museum has recently begun, using optical and scanning electron microscopy, radiography and X-ray fluorescence analysis. Interesting case studies, showing a range of goldworking practices, wi |ll be illustrated. These include gilding, the use of stone matrices in mould making and the identification of fakes.

|Resumen: El Museo Británico ha comenzado recientemente un programa de estudio cientifico y |tecnológico de su colección de objetos de orfebrer |ía prehispánica. Para este programa se usa microscopia óptica y |electrónica de barrido, análisis radiográficos y |de fluorescencia de rayos X. |En este articulo se presentan estudios de caso interesantes que muestran un rango de prácticas de |orfebrería que incluye dorado, uso de matrices de piedra para la elaboración de moldes e identificación de falsificaciones.

The British Museum's collection of South American metalwork has been accumulated over nearly 200 years, but until recently few of the pieces had been analysed or studied metallurgically. The objects came from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and up to Mexico and this ongoing study has been set up to pravide technological information for the catalogue of the collection.