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by Mildred Boyd Compared
to the riches of Peru, gold was relatively rare in meso-America and, though
quills filled with gold dust were sometimes used as a medium of exchange
and the glittering metal was called the "excrement of the gods",
it was far less valued than jade or even plumes for personal adornment
or ritual offerings. Nevertheless, when Fray Bartolome de las Casas first
viewed the treasures Cortez had sent to Charles V, he judged them "So
rich, and made with such artistry they seemed a dream and not fashioned
by the hands of men." |