As early as 3000 B.C., Native Americans were mining copper in the Lake Superior area. Once assumed to be primitive peoples, their sophisticated manipulation of copper created the standard for millennia of metallurgy, withstanding time to preserve the ideals and customs of otherwise forgotten cultures. Northeastern North Americans were among the first peoples in the world to develop an interest in metals as a central aspect of ritual. Copper played a crucial role in burial rites and ceremonies. Descendants continued to make and use these ritual objects, in much the same way as their ancestors, through the arrival of Europeans, thus constituting a key phase of the global development of metallurgy from ancient times to the present. With the loss of so much of Native American culture, the beautiful and intricate artwork of these prehistoric civilizations is one of the few remaining testaments to the sophistication of those early, yet complex, peoples.
Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual examines the history of metallurgy in eastern North America. Amelia M. Trevelyan describes how this exotic material was extracted and how it became a cherished part of ritual. Trevelyan thoroughly examines the significance of the metal itself -- including its uses as ceremonial weaponry, delicate pendants, and ear ornaments -- to provide an in-depth analysis of early ritual uses of copper. Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual is the first comprehensive study of this 3,000-year-old phenomenon among the ancient peoples of eastern North America. By concentrating on the artifacts themselves, their complex aesthetics and iconography as well as their cultural context and technical sophistication, Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual describes the significance of the copper objects as well as their special function within the societies that created them.
