4/10/24 Report - Big Tides Today. 17th Century Battle Gear Found by Detectorist. Peru 1542 - 1600. Calusa Artifacts of Various Metals.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Detectorist digs up 17th century battle gear.

...The metal pieces that were dug up likely date back to the 17th century, officials say.

"Based on the shape of the helmet, we can very likely assess that (the armor) comes from the first half of the 17th century," an archaeologist from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University told Science in Poland.

The archaeologist also said that it is unclear where exactly the armor was made, as it lacked decorative ornaments that noblemen usually had – which suggests it may have been made in a local workshop.

"It is a bit corroded, we will only have greater certainty about the date of its creation after conservation work."...

Here is the link for more of that story.

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/400-year-old-battle-gear-discovered-metal-detectorist-poland-unique-find

Thanks to William K. for that link.

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Spanish Colonial Economies: An Overview of the Economy of the Viceroyalty of Peru, 1542-1600, by Denis Hurley, is a 20 page assay with a lot of good references.  Below is a brief excerpt.

 

... At the conclusion of the 15th century, an increasingly robust and integrated European economy was emerging from the prolonged commercial malaise of the Middle Ages. The expanding economic activity that accompanied the general revival of trade and commerce produced an acute dearth of hard currency in Europe.4 Thus, the search for new sources of bullion beyond the increasingly exhausted mines of Europe was a principal motivator of European overseas expansion during the 16th century. The size of colonial Peru’s population and the dynamism of its economy were direct consequences of the region’s vast mineral wealth. 

 Mining provided the foundation of the Peruvian economy. Many scholars recognize three distinct stages of colonial silver mining: “accumulation” – commandeering the metal from the Native Americans; “panning” – sifting through the soil for bits of silver; and “vein mining” – which involves digging shafts or adits (horizontal access tunnels, in contrast to vertical shafts) to a given intersection point with the target lode.5 In Peru, the conical form of target mountains allowed miners to accomplish extraction through adits, some only a few yards long while others stretched hundreds of yards and branched off in complex tunnel networks.6 Because of their horizontal structure, adits were safer and more reliable than vertical shafts, and reduced the human and capital demands of extraction...

Here is the link for more of that article.

 content (cornell.edu)

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Here is a link to a picture gallery of US colonial coins and tokens.

US_Colonials_Photo_Gallery.pdf (pnna.org)

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And here is a link to an old post on Calusa Artifacts of gold, silver and copper.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 6/23/17 Report - Calusa Artifacts for Reference - Silver, Gold and Copper

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We're having some really high tides.  Wednesday the surf will be higher too.  

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net