Gold, a metal associated with wealth and power in the Western world, was understood by certain cultures of the pre-Columbian world as a material linked to incorruptibility, immortality, and the divine qualities of the sun, due to its brilliance and golden hue.

Artifacts and ornaments crafted from gold transcended the merely decorative to become integral to the ritual and symbolic dimensions of these societies. In the case of coastal cultures such as the Jama-Coaque, natural elements like shells and mollusks—used as climatic indicators that marked agricultural cycles—were depicted with great refinement in a metal associated with the sun. In this way, a complex symbolism was developed that linked observation of the environment, astronomical cycles, and their influence on the climate.

Did women participate in pre-Columbian metallurgical processes in the northern Andes? Although in recent years there has been an in-depth study of women’s roles in mining activities, a gap remains in research on their participation in metallurgy and goldsmithing.

Although their agency in this field is not yet precisely known, their presence is suggested by representations such as these female figurines from the Jama-Coaque culture (300 B.C.–1532 A.D.), identified as goldsmiths by archaeologist and historian Olaf Holm. In these figurines, the women hold a jewelry box on their laps, which opens up the possibility of rethinking the role of women in the production and transmission of metallurgical knowledge.

People who possessed knowledge related to the climate, agriculture as the primary source of food, the territory, and ways of life could hold high-ranking positions in their respective societies. This crown or belt from the Pasto culture (700–1500 CE) may have been worn by someone with this kind of knowledge as a symbol of their authority and social status. It features embossed designs with geometric, anthropomorphic, and zoomorphic motifs, which may depict opossums or monkeys.

In the pre-Columbian world, metals such as copper and silver, as well as materials such as Spondylus and quartz, were valued not only for their utility but also for the profound symbolic meanings they carried. While gold was associated with the divine and the eternal, copper—due to its oxidation and perishable nature—could be linked to the human and the earthly.

This object may be a ceremonial knife from the Manteño-Huancavilca culture (600–1532 CE), made of arsenical copper, likely sourced from regions in what is now Peru and obtained through trade networks. Its manufacture, which involved casting, polishing, and possibly soldering, attests to the high level of technology and expertise achieved in working this metal.