Origins of Smelting: Lake yields core of pre-Inca silver making

According to 16th-century Spanish accounts, an Incan ruler who reigned nearly 600 years ago discovered Cerro Rico, a major silver deposit in southern Bolivia’s Andes Mountains. More recently, archaeological discoveries have documented the Incas’ extensive efforts to mine silver ore and extract the precious metal in smelting operations.

It now appears, however, that the Incas were latecomers to silver production.