The study analysed pre‐Hispanic gold objects found within a surprising archaeological finding of a structure that likely served as a funeral pyre in Medellín, Colombia. ¹⁴C analyses of the site's organic materials dated the structure to the fifth century ce. The metal objects were subjected to X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF), scanning electron microscopy‐energy dispersive X‐ray (SEM‐EDX), density measurement by the Archimedes method, and metallographic analysis. The measurements by EDXRF and SEM‐EDX showed that the pieces were composed mostly gold and silver. The XRD results indicated that the microstructure of the objects corresponded to a single phase of gold and silver. The images obtained by the metallographic microscope showed equiaxial grains with some twins, a structure consistent with annealed metals. The different colours observed correspond to different grain orientations. Pre‐Hispanic objects from a second archaeological site in the municipality of Amalfi (Department of Antioquia) were also analysed for comparative purposes. The results showed that the gold objects were not subjected to any alloying process, but were instead manipulated in their original form (native gold). The shape of the objects and their microstructural results suggested that the pieces were manufactured by casting, mechanical deformation and then annealing.

中文翻译：

---

哥伦比亚麦德林神秘考古发现中的西班牙前金饰：考古分析一瞥

该研究分析了在令人惊讶的考古发现中发现的西班牙前金器，该发现可能是哥伦比亚麦德林的一个葬礼堆。¹⁴ C对场地有机材料的分析可追溯至公元五世纪。对金属物体进行X射线衍射（XRD），能量色散X射线荧光（EDXRF），扫描电子显微镜-能量色散X射线（SEM-EDX），阿基米德法测量密度以及金相分析。EDXRF和SEM‐EDX的测量结果表明，这些碎片主要由金和银组成。XRD结果表明，物体的微观结构对应于金和银的单相。通过金相显微镜获得的图像显示出具有一些孪晶的等轴晶粒，其结构与退火金属一致。观察到的不同颜色对应于不同的晶粒取向。为了进行比较，还对来自阿马尔菲市（安蒂奥基亚省）第二个考古遗址的西班牙裔前物体进行了分析。结果表明，金制物体没有经过任何合金化处理，而是以其原始形式（天然金）进行了处理。物体的形状及其微观结构结果表明，这些零件是通过铸造，机械变形然后退火制成的。