Folded copper/brass piece (decorated)

About This Artifact

Folded brass sheet with intricate repoussé geometric designs, folded three times over. Composition approximately 95% copper and 5% zinc, making it technically brass of European origin. Laird Niven's initial assessment suggested military origin. Archaeologist Andre Costopoulos (University of Alberta) proposed it may be a gorget, a neck ornament worn as part of European military uniforms and also by North American Indigenous warriors. The British gave gorgets to their Mi'kmaw allies after the War of 1812. The decoration suggests possible Indigenous origin rather than European, possibly made from reworked European trade brass or gilding metal (Pinchbeck, manufactured in the UK from the early 1700s). The 5% zinc content rules out native copper and dates the metal source to post-1500s European manufacture. In a follow-up analysis, Dr. Edwin Barnhart of the Maya Exploration Center stated that nothing in the Americas was ever alloyed in this way, making the piece definitively European. He noted the geometric patterns are universal and difficult to attribute to a specific culture or period, but believed it was decorative and possibly a religious object.