SITE DIRECTORY
Click here to see a video of the process.
9. Before the cupellation furnace is used, the firing chamber is lined with a layer of fine ash (from the yareta plant) dampened with urine. This is tamped down with a stone in order to produce a smooth, concave surface. Next pieces of the lead produced in the huayrachina are arranged on this surface, and the top and one of the side openings of the firing chamber are plugged and sealed with wet clay. Then dried grass and thola branches are ignited in the fire box, which is also partially closed. A small orifice remains open on one side of the box and is used to feed the fire with dried llama dung. This process is almost continuous, and requires the furnace operator to throw in handfuls of dung and stir it with a thin iron rod every few minutes so a constant level of heat is maintained in the firing chamber.
Funding for this project provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the National Science Foundation, the Curtiss T. Brennan and Mary G. Brennan
Foundation, and Colorado State University.
Questions about this webpage or the contents herein
should be directed to: Andrew.Mueller@lamar.colostate.edu