Gold Museum in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, is one of the largest and most distinguished
museums of pre-Hispanic metallurgy in the world. Visited by more than ５００,０００ people per year,
it has served as a bridge of history, collecting since １９３９ masterpieces of gold, pottery, shell, wood, and textile produced by the Colombian pre-Hispanic natives.

This unique collection of ３３,０００ finely crafted metal pieces helps us to understand the way of life and spiritual beliefs of Colombia’s indigenous people. Mr. Eduardo Londoño is the museum’s head of outreach and our knowledgeable guide.

(Interview in Spanish)
Eduardo Londoño – Head of Outreach, Museo del Oro (m):
The interesting thing is that the indigenous Americans １６,０００, ２０,０００ years ago came to this continent, and when they came to America they did not bring the knowledge discovered much later in Europe. The discoveries were totally independent of what had been done in China, India or in the Middle East. So the natives with their experience with this gold metal found in the sand of the rivers, they started to appreciate it and learned how to work it, how to purify it, until it turned into these beautiful objects that we can see in the museum today. What tools did they use？ Most important of all, was the strength of their lungs, because
for melting inside these ceramic containers, several people gathered together with canes, blowing until
the metal was heated to １,０５３ degrees, the gold fusion temperature, and in this way were able to purify it, take away impurities and work it, either with a hammer, or by smelting until make these objects we see in the museum’s showcases.