Resumen

VAN BUREN, Mary. AN ETHNOARCHAELOGICAL STUDY OF THE SMELTING TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTHERN POTOSÍ, BOLIVIA. Textos Antropológicos [online]. 2003, vol.14, n.2, pp. 133-148. ISSN 1025-3181.

Inka expansión into the southern Andes was propelled largely by the searchfor mineral wealth, and much recent research on Late Horizon sites in the región has focused on metallurgicalproduction. This paper presents the results ofan ethnoarchaeological study oftraditional smelting technology that is currently employednear Porco in Potosí, Bolivia, and describes the smelting ofleadand silver in a huayrachina anda small reverberatory furnace by a retired miner. The insights generated by these observations are then used to interpret the archaeological record oflnka metal production at Porco which is briefly compared to that ofpreviously reported sites in northwestern Argentina and northern Chile.