The Mysterious Case of Columbus’s Silver Ore
New research revealed that the silver-bearing ore found by Christopher Columbus during his second expedition was not mined in the Americas. The basis for this revelation was the ore that the researchers excavated from the settlement in La Isabela came from Spain. The ore was examined closely using the ore microscope. The explorers brought the Spanish ore to La Isabela as a basis for comparison in the examination of the new ores they expected to find. The purpose of the expedition was to discover precious metals.
By the year 1497, remaining settlers from the La Isabela in desperate attempts to find gold or silver having found no gold or silver were frantic to salvage something of value from the failed settlement. Instead they were reduced to extracting silver from the galena they brought from Spain. This story about Columbus failed settlement cannot be found in the historical documents. This theory could not have been proven possible without the application of techniques of physical sciences to the archaeological relics. La Isabela was the first European town in the New World. It was established during the second expedition of Columbus in 1494 on the northern coast of the present Dominican Republic.
More or less one thousand five hundred members of the expedition were expecting to make fortunes and riches by finding valuable metals. What they encountered there however were hurricanes, hunger and disease. Columbus was later recalled to Spain in 1496. Eventually, the few hundred remaining inhabitants abandoned the place in 1498.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s archaeologists who were excavating the site discovered about 100 pounds of galena. Galena is a silver-bearing lead ore. Galena can be studied closely with the use of the ore microscope. The archaeologists likewise found more than 200 pounds of metallurgical slag. The ore and slag were found with a small heater near the alhóndiga which is a building for the storage and protection of royal property. The materials discovered were sent to an archaeometallurgist who studied and analyzed the samples using modern methods of technology. The outcome of the analysis showed that the slag turned out to be lead silicate, an end product of an improvised smelting process. Lead silicate is of no value.
Further examination of the slag with the use of the ore microscope revealed specks of silver which suggested that Columbus men were trying to extract silver by removing the lead from the Galena. This indicated the first proof of Europeans who are looking for silver in the New World.
With this development, the researchers tried to review the story of Columbus’ second expedition. They noted that he visited the islands geologists believed were abundant with galena. What puzzled the researchers was that there was no mention of finding galena in the journals. The reason might be that they were hiding the discovery from the others.
The researchers then used lead isotope analysis to know where the galena from Isabela came from. The isotope of lead can provide a sort of fingerprint that can show the source of a rock. The scientists found that it was a common practice that time to mix galena with powdered ores suspected of having gold or silver. The process offered an assay of the gold or silver in the newly discovered ore by comparing it with galena containing a known, small quantity of silver. Archaeology may provide with interesting questions to ask but it is physical science that gives he answer to he question. Read more
