Thor's Epic Journey pt. 3 - Lima Gold Museum

I also visited the Lima Incan Gold museum, which was absolutely amazing. 

You essentially walk into a huge vault, with the big round door to match.

Inside, the walls are filled with jewelry, weapons, tools, and, like these, burial masks.

Not all of this is solid gold - there are other metals covered in gold leaf..

..but interestingly, the Incas knew enough about metallurgy to be able to add gold ions through electrolysis, many many years before Europeans started experimenting with batteries and electricity, although very early examples of this has been found in the ancient Greece as well.

The gold was, of course, a very important reason for the Spanish conquest of Peru and the Andes region. The Incas had gold mines, and used the material particularly in religious ceremonies..

..Like for instance this, which would be among the last things a person who was about to be sacrificed would see: This blade would be used to open the chest and cut out the heart of the sacrifical virgin, making the Inca culture a culture in which it was truly life-saving to be a total slut.

Unfortunately for historians, but fortunately for the churches, much of this gold was melted into gold leaf used to decorate the churches and cathedrals around Peru when Catholisism was spread across the Andes.

A pre-Columbian nose picker.

After seeing such shows as "The Lost Cities of Gold" and read several historical accounts of Pizarro's adventures / exploits through the mountains and jungles of Peru, it was very special to actually see all this gold. Is it worth wiping out a couple of million people for? Apparently.