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 Gold and platinum are abundant in the Tumaco region. Tumaco goldsmiths discovered a way to work platinum without melting it down: heating lumps of powdered metal into a small amount of melted gold.  
 
   
 
Ear ornament
Gold, platinum, and stone
500 b.C. - 300 A.D.
Inguapí River, Tumaco, Nariño
2,7 x 2,8 cm
   
 
    
 

 

 
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