Case studies on reverse engineering on ancient metals

Metallic pieces from the archaeological site of the Mapuche Cemetery of Montaña Mesa de Malargüe, located in the southern region of Mendoza, Argentina, were studied. These pieces were made of raw and alloyed copper and can be described as a notched quadrangular ring, three cones, and the hemisphere of a spherical rattle. This study allows us to glimpse that a developed society was inserted south of the Salado River before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers. The studies consisted of metallographic analyzes with the help of a portable microscope, analyzes of the chemical composition carried out with portable X-ray fluorescence equipment and the evaluation of microhardness. The samples were further characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS). There was evidence of changes in metal working methods, as well as in the use of raw materials, and this can be linked to the processes of social transformation that occurred within Mapuche society. These historic metal pieces were studied as part of the Border Archeometallurgy Project carried out between 2016 and 2017.