The Mysterious Case Of Columbus' Silver Ore - UPDATE

               

University of Florida archaeologist Kathleen Deagan uses measuring calipers to examine a lead musket ball excavated from La Isabela, Christopher Columbus' first settlement in the New World, in this photo taken Feb. 19, 2007.

Weapons like this were crafted from lead extracted from galena, a silver-bearing lead ore. Researchers excavated nearly 200 pounds of galena in association with a smelting operation at La Isabela, located in what is now the Dominican Republic.

A new study shows the settlement’s inhabitants desperately tried to extract sliver from the galena before abandoning the site in 1498.

(Credit: Image courtesy of University of Florida)