Module 2: The Power of Metal in
                         the Andean World

Professor Heather Lechtman

Syllabus

MONDAY, 17 June

Lecture 8:30-11:30

-- Metallurgy of the New World and the Old World: societies, metals, and materials properties
-- Physical metallurgy: crystallinity; phase diagrams; solid solution freezing; microsegregation (coring)

Laboratory 1-5 pm

(a) Interpretation of metallic microstructures (16-536)
(b) Smelting copper oxide ore (4-003)

TUESDAY 18 June

Lecture

-- Andean sheet metal tradition vs. Central/Mesoamerican casting tradition: plastic
deformation in Andean metalworking design
-- Physical metallurgy: dendrite formation; corrosion products; large ingot solidification; eutectic solidification

Laboratory

(a) Interpretation of metallic microstructures (16-536)
(b) Preparation of wax pattern and mould for lost-wax casting of Cu-Ag alloy bar ingots (4-003)

WEDNESDAY 19 June

Lecture

-- Color: the focus of Andean alloy development; surface enrichment techniques
-- Physical metallurgy: plastic deformation; slip via dislocation movement; strain hardening; metallic microstructures

Laboratory

(a) Interpretation of metallic microstructures (16-536)
(b) Melting and pouring Cu-Ag alloy to cast bar ingots; begin working and annealing copper bar (4-003)

THURSDAY 20 June

Lecture

-- Color and planarity: cloth, metal, and the culture of technology
-- Physical metallurgy: annealing and recrystallization; hot working; metallic microstructures

Laboratory

(a) Interpretation of metallic microstructures (16-536)
(b) Working, annealing, pickling Cu-Ag alloy bars to plastically deform them and to develop enriched silver surfaces

FRIDAY 21 June

Lecture

-- The power of metal in the Andean world: tumbaga vs. bronze
-- Bronze metallurgy: mechanical and physical properties of bronzes; smelting and preparation of bronze alloys

Laboratory

(a) Interpretation of metallic microstructures (16-536)
(b) Continue plastic deformation of Cu-Ag bars