Cursus Publicus: The Ingenious Postal System of the Roman Empire
No great empire is truly functional without a proper system of communication and transport. Logistics are what keeps a vast realm ticking like a good mechanism, and what brings it together into one well-ordered nation. Throughout history, every large empire had its own system of couriers, road networks, and transportation, ensuring its success and functionality. Arguably the most well-known of all these was the Cursus Publicus, the ancient Roman postal and transportation system.
How quickly could a Letter cross the Roman Empire?
How long did messages take to cross the Roman Empire? The answer depended on the season, the sender's connections, and luck...
Video
Wikipedia
The cursus publicus (Latin: "the public way"; Ancient Greek: δημόσιος δρόμος, dēmósios drómos) was the state mandated and supervised courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire,[1][2] whose use continued into the Eastern Roman Empire
Cursus Publicas Postal System extended to Greek territory but Greeks themselves did not have a postal system. To the right of Greece were the Persians and they had a postal system called the Royal Road.
There was no post network as such in Classical Greece, but there were specialised messengers (hemerodromoi) and messenger ships. One of the most interesting sources of information on Greek letters is those sent by Hellenistic kings (many of which were copied into stone stelae).
An advance civilization such as Greece may have had a lesser known Postal System that has yet to be found and documented by scholars.
What was the name of the Marathon Messenger?
Pheidippides
The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 490 BC.
The Mexican postal system has its roots in the Aztec system of messengers which the Spanish adopted after the Conquest. A postal service was established in 1580, mainly to communicate between the viceroyalty of New Spain with the motherland Spain.
The postal system of Mexico may be said to have begun with the Aztecs, who operated a system of messengers; they worked well enough that Hernán Cortés continued using them after the 1521 conquest. [1] After 1579, the right to operate the posts was farmed out to members of the nobility, who were known as "Correo Mayor de la Nueva España". The most important part of their operation was the route between Mexico City and Veracruz.
Tarahumara Runners( Raramuri People ), Chihuahua, Mexico, may have also had a Postal System since they are known for running across mountains for long distances.
Several Native Americans were also known for their long distance running on the Plains of North America but I'm not sure if they had a Postal System.
Chasqui playing a pututu (conch shell) in "Primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno" (drawing 168 folio 351).[1]
A chasqui (also spelled chaski) was a messenger of the Inca empire. Agile, highly trained and physically fit, they were in charge of carrying messages –in the form of quipus or oral information–[2] and small packets. Along the Inca road system there were relay stations called chaskiwasi (house of chasqui), placed at about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) from each other, where the chasqui switched, exchanging their message(s) with the fresh messenger. The chasqui system could be able to deliver a message or a gift along a distance of up to 300 kilometres (190 mi) per day.[3]: Ch. I.3
The name chasqui is derived from the Quechua word chaski (plural chaskikuna) meaning "reception, acceptance, consent" and historically "postilion".[4]: chaski According to Inca Garcilaso de la Vega,[5] the Spanish−Inca chronicler and writer of the 16th Century, the word chasqui means "the one who exchanges". The name cacha (spelled kacha in modern Quechua), meaning messenger in Quechua, was not used, but rather it was used to mention ambassadors or personal messengers, «who personally went from one prince to another or from the lord to the subject.»[6]: Ch. VII
These 'chasques' were employed in this kingdom. They were the sons of curacas [local chiefs] who were loyal. Each runner had a white feather sunshade on his head which he wore so that the next chasque would see him at a distance. The chasque also carried a trumpet called 'putoto' [shell] so that the next runner would be ready. The arms they carried were the 'champi' [a star-headed club] and a 'uaraca' [sling].
These chasques were paid by the Inca, and they got their food from his storehouses. Each 'churo chasque' [chasqui carrying a shell] was stationed at intervals of one-half league [2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi)] so he could run the distance quickly. They say that they could bring a snail alive from the New Kingdom of Granada [northern part of south America] to the Inca in Cuzco.
The chasquis were used to carry the king's orders in short time to the provinces or to the army commanders and bring news and notices important for the kingdom, the war and the provinces to Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire.
Along the Inca roads relay stations were placed at half a league distance, where a league is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) or an hour walking. At each station, four to six slim, fit and young chasquis would stand in wait, with a roof or a hut to repair them from the sun and the rain. They carried the messages in turns in one direction or the other. The waiting chasquis would constantly surveil the road to spot the incoming runner, the latter of which shouted within sight of the hut and played his seashell trumpet, in order to alert the new one to take his place. He gave his message, repeating it more than once, until the new chasqui understood it perfectly. This way the message was never lost.[6]
The huts were light constructions and were always placed in an elevated position and in such a way that they could see each other. According to Inca Garcialso the distance was just one quarter of a league «because they said that that was what an Indian could run with lightness and breath, without getting tired».[6][8]
The chasquis also carried other messages, in the form of quipus (from the Quechua word khipu meaning 'knot') which contained mainly numbers in an ordered form. Quipus could represente the amount of taxes to be paid by a village or a province or the amount of soldiers to be moved.[9] There is no evidence that the chasquis could read the quipus, which was a delicate and difficult task carried out by khipukamayoq[10]: 151 (experts in writing and reading quipu),[4]: khipukamayoq because in practice it was not necessary for the chasquis to have access to the information they delivered.
In case of grave emergencies such as an invasion or an uprising, bonfires were used during the night and smoke columns during the day. According to Inca Garcilaso the Inca would receive the distress message «within two or three hours at the most (even if it was five or six hundred leagues [250 to 300 kilometres (160 to 190 mi)] from the court)».[6]: Ch. VII
According to the chronicle of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa the chasqui service was established by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui who had extended his empire very much towards the north and who needed to have fresh daily reports from all the provinces of his vast kingdom, thus he ordered his brother and captain general, Capac Yupanqui, to establish the system.[11]: 132
On the other hand Juan de Betanzos states that it was Viracocha Inca, predecessor of Pachacuti who «ordered that there be markers of leagues on the royal roads» and «that all the royal roads be populated with chasques, in each league marker four chasques, so that with the mandates and provisions of the lnga, in a short time, they can run the earth»[12]: 369
Martín de Murúa states instead that it was Topa Inca Yupanqui Pachacuti's son, who ordered «to put couriers on all the roads, which they call chasques, with such order and concert that they admire, which were on the roads, at intervals each one about a crossbow shot, and sometimes closer, and others were at half a league distance»[13]
The Inca road system, known as Qhapaq Ñan (meaning "royal road" in Quechua)[14][15] was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. As a whole it was about 40,000 kilometres (25,000 mi) long[10]: 242 The network was composed of formal[16] roads carefully planned, engineered, built, marked and maintained; paved where necessary, with stairways to gain elevation, bridges and accessory constructions such as retaining walls, and water drainage systems. It was based on two north–south roads: one along the coast and the second and most important inland and up the mountains, both with numerous branches.[17] The road system allowed for the transfer of information, goods, soldiers and persons, without the use of wheels, within the Tawantinsuyu or Inca Empire throughout a territory covering almost 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi)[18] and inhabited by about 12 million people.[19]
The roads were bordered, at intervals, with buildings to allow the most effective usage: at short distance there were chasquiwasi, relay stations for chasquis; at a one-day walking interval tambos allowed support to the road users and flocks of llama pack animals. Administrative centers with warehouses, called qullqas, for re-distribution of goods were found along the roads. Towards the boundaries of the Inca Empire and in newly conquered areas pukaras (fortresses) were found.[15]
The tambos were perhaps the most important buildings in the operations of the road network. They were constructions of varied architecture and size whose function was mainly the lodging of the travellers and the storage of products for their supply. For this reason, they were located at a day's journey interval, although irregularities were identified in their distances probably linked to various factors such as the presence of water sources, the existence of land with agricultural produce or the presence of pre-Inca centers.[15] Tambos were so frequent that many Andean regional place names include the word tambo in them.
Garcilaso de la Vega[6]: Ch. VII underlines the presence of infrastructure (tambos) on the Inka road system where lodging posts for state officials and chasquis were ubiquitous across the Inca empire; they were well spaced and well provisioned. Food, clothes and weapons were stored and ready also for the Inka army marching through the territory.[20]
The chaskiwasis (sometimes spelled chasquihuasi and meaning house of chasqui in Quechua) were relay stations and accommodations for the chasquis: the buildings were of small dimensions having an architecture probably linked to local traditions. Even if they were more frequent than tambos, there is little evidence and research on them.[15] A research published in 2006 under the 'Qhapaq Ñan Project' of the National Institute of Culture in Peru,[21] based on surveys along the Inca road system, revealed that chaskiwasis were not present on all the Inca roads. It is not yet defined if this was a planned decision, because that road part was not useful for information transfer, or simply there is no current evidence of them due to their poor construction. The chaskiwasis were an integral part of the routes and defined some of the most characteristic aspects of the operation of the road network that called the attention of the first Spaniards that was reflected in the chronicles, as was the speed in the transmission of messages and small goods for the Inka.[15]
According to several chroniclers (e.g. Garcilaso de la Vega,[6] Guaman Poma de Ayala,[1] Juan de Betanzos,[12]Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa[11]) the average distance between two chaskiwasi was half a league that means about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) as in the case of tambos the distance must have been determined by the environment, keeping into account the soil characteristics, the climate, and the elevation above sea level. Polo de Ondegardo states that the distance was one and a half league meaning about 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) which D'Altroy takes as a reference writing that the distance was 6 to 9 kilometres (3.7 to 5.6 mi).[10]: 370
The minimum manpower of a chaskiwasi was four runners, a couple resting and the others waiting as sentinels for an incoming chasqui. The chasqui patrol was exchanged for a fresh one every month.[22] The chasqui service was active 24 hours a day and its speed was even faster than the European message services in the same historical period and until the invention of the telegraph.[3]: Ch. I.3
The Peruvian architect Santiago Agurto Calvo –professor and rector of the National University of Engineering in Lima– cites Von Hagen's experiment along the Inca road in the Mantaro Valley between Jauja and Bonbón which demonstrated that young Quechuas, having no special training, could run the distance of 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in about 4 minutes and keep this pace for about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). This means that in 1 hour 15 to 20 kilometres (9.3 to 12.4 mi) could be covered, summing up to 360 to 480 kilometres (220 to 300 mi) per day. For the Inca emperor, getting fresh fish in Cusco was really possible.[3]: Ch. I.3
Guaman Poma de Ayala in his manuscript "Primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno", preserved in the CopenhagenRoyal Library[23] mentions and depicts the chasquis twice.
The first is drawing 138 at folio 351 (see above) It describes the chasquis operations and adds that: «These chasques were under the authority of Inca princes, auquicona, [royal princes, plural of awki] in the kingdom so no mistakes would be made. This Inca would visit the chasques to make sure they did nothing wrong and that they had sufficient food. As has been stated, the chasques were authorized to take provisions from the Inca’s storehouses. These chasques were not replaced by others because they had to be faithful, sons of well-known curacas, not be lazy, and able to fly like a deer or a hawk. Their wives and children were protected because the runners had to be on call day and night. They had chacras (fields or farms) and livestock in the same place, and everything they needed. They were not to be missing over one hour»[7]
The second one is drawing 306 at folio 825.
The second image of a chasqui in the First New Chronicle and Good Government by Guamán Poma de Ayala
«It has to be known that the Ynga king had two kinds of runners in this kingdom. The first one is named churo mullo chasque (postilion that brings snail) or major runner who could bring [sea] snails from more than 500 leagues, since mulo is the sea snail of the new kingdom. They were placed at a distance of half a league. And the lesser runner was named caro chasque (messenger of snail) was placed at a day distance [to carry] heavy things. And these runners must be sons of chiefs, of loyal and proved knights, as fast as a deer these were paid and equipped by the Inca as lord and king. And he (the chasqui) was wearing on his head a big feather sunshade that covered his head in order to be seen form far away and a trumpet that was called uaylla quipa (the snail horn). They (the chasquis) were shouting very loud and playing their trumpet and as a weapon they carried a chanbi (fighting club) and a sling. And this is how the land was managed by this runners. They and their wives and sons, father, mother, brothers and sisters were free form anything that there was [taxes and services for the Inca]. He never stopped day and night. In each chasqui (house) there were four diligent Indians in this kingdom. The mentioned king's runners chasque shall have their salary from his majesty of the royal road.» [24]
In his "Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas", published in 1609 (chapter VII) Garcilaso describes the chasquis and their operations. Most of the description of operation are taken from this book.[1]
He supports the speed of the chasquis by stating: «They asked me how many months it would take to go from there to Cuzco; I told them that there were two roads from there to Cuzco, and that one went along the sea coast and the other went through the mountains, and I told them that if the Indians walked from there to Cuzco, it would take three or four months, going little by little, and if they went through the posts (the chsquis) in five or six days the news of what they wanted to let him know would reach the Ynga.»[12]: 312
Murúa confirms that «When the Inga wanted to eat fresh fish from the sea, since it was seventy or eighty leagues [350 to 400 kilometres (220 to 250 mi)] (from the coast) to Cuzco, where he lived, they would bring it to him alive, which indeed seems an incredible thing over such a long stretch and distance, and on such roads, rough and intricate»
Murúa gives also fresh information about the speed of the chasquis and the punishments they were given in case they became lazy. First of all the chasquis needed to be searched «among the Indians for those who were quickest and fastest, and who had the most courage to run, and so he (the Inca) tested them, making them run across a plain and, later, go down a hill with the same lightness, and then climb a rough slope, without stopping, and to those who stood out in this and did it well, he assigned the courier task and they had to train every day in the race. So that, they were so encouraged that they reached the deer and even vicuñas, which are very fast wild animals that breed in the coldest places and deserts. Thus, with incredible flight, they carried the news from one place to another, and those who did not run well, and were lazy, were punished by giving them fifty blows to the head with a club, or fifty blows to the back, and their legs were broken, for memory and punishment of others.»[13]: Ch. VIII
The chasquis according to Murúa were raised since children «with great care and only once a day they were fed […] and only once they drank, and thus they were skinny, and the parents tested them if they were fast, making them run uphill and follow a deer, and if they were lazy they were punished in the same way, so that the entire caste and generation of Chasquis Indians was fast and light, and for a long time.»
Murúa regrets the progressive disappearance of the chasquis system, which was an extremely effective communication system for the Andean zone,[25] stating that the service « is not performed nowadays with the punctuality and care of the past, in the times of the Inga, because then the distance of [the run of] these couriers was small, and thus the notices ran very quickly, without stopping for a single moment anywhere, not even for the chasqui to take a break and breathe. But now the journeys are five or six leagues, and from tambo to tambo.»[13]: Ch. VIII This is a confirmation that the chaskiwasi were already non-functioning in 1613.
Polo de Ondegardo was not a chronicler, he was a Spanish colonial jurist, civil servant, businessman and thinker. He did not publish any book, nevertheless he produced several manuscript reports for the viceroy. One of them includes a chapter about the chasquis. There he describes their operation and measures a distance between chaskiwasi of one and a half league, which is three times the distance stated by other chroniclers. Moreover he confirms that at each relay station there were at least four men, night and day, that served for a term of one month. The incoming chasqui and the one waiting exchanged the message without stopping. Ondegardo confirms that the 500 leagues «which is very rough ground» from Quito to Cusco could be traveled in less than 20 days back and forth and «it is to be believed, because later here when there have been wars and other needs on earth, we (the Spaniards) have used this remedy of the chasquis» […] «and there is no doubt that between one day and one night they must have covered fifty leagues as they say […] and I have received letters at the rate of thirty-five leagues in just one day and one night. Other times I have seen letters arrive from Lima to Cuzco in four days, which are one hundred and twenty leagues, almost all rough roads and very difficult to walk.»[22]: Ch. XV
There are several paths that were used by the chasquis that still stand today. There are trails that allow one to travel along these paths and to experience the distance and terrain that the chasquis traveled.[26]
Yam (Mongolian: Өртөө, Örtöö, checkpoint) was a postal system or supply point route messenger system extensively used and expanded by Ögedei Khan and also used by subsequent Great Khans and Khans.[1]
Relay stations provided food, shelter and spare horses for Mongol army messengers. Ögedei Khan gave special attention to Yam because Mongol armies travelled quickly; their messengers had to be even faster, and they covered 200–300 kilometres (120–190 mi) per day.[1] The system was used to speed up the process of information and intelligence.
The name Yam was adopted into most Western languages from Russian, in which it probably is from Mongolian yam ('ministry' or 'office'). However, in the Mongolian Empire, both the postal system and the individual stations were named Örtöö (Örtege in Classical Mongolian).
The Yam operated with a chain of relay stations at certain distances to each other, usually around 20–40 miles (32–64 km) apart. A messenger would arrive at a station and give his information to another messenger, and meanwhile rest and let the other messenger go on to the next station to hand the document to yet another messenger. This way information or documents were constantly on the move without each messenger getting tired. In each relay station, there would be spare horses, food, and shelter.[1]
As one of the most fundamental tools for managing the Mongol Empire, the operation of the Yam system was regulated by the written law Yassa. Both messengers and station operators enjoyed extended privileges. Even for everybody else, the requirements of the Yam took precedence before their other duties and interests, and they had to support it whenever it became necessary. This kind of support was made possible by the strict discipline within the empire, which also led to a high level of security, often described as Pax Mongolica.
At first, the system was also available to merchants free of cost. The abuse of this possibility led Möngke Khan to require that commercial users pay for the services.
The system was preserved in Russian Tsardom after the disintegration of the Golden Horde, as a means of fast governmental communication and later for use in the postal service, called the yam courier service [ru]. It was implemented in the form of yam duty [ru] levied onto both urban and rural populations. It was controlled by a yamskoy prikaz. The coachman performing the yam service was called a yamshchik. Many major Russian cities had whole suburbs and villages (slobodas) settled by yamshchiks and were called yamskaya sloboda [ru]. Certain villages existing along the old roads retain the word yam in their names, such as Yam-Tyosovo. Gavrilov-Yam, a city in Russia is also named after the yam post station network.
Chronicles of the period indicate that Basques first came to North America in 1517, only seventeen years before French explorer, Jacques Cartier; however, some historians suggest they made the journey before Christopher Columbus in 1492. Whatever the case, the sixteenth century marked the golden era of Basque fishing.
ON THE TRAIL OF THE BASQUE WHALERS
Basque whalers established the first industry in North America
lt started with the Basques.” This was the sentence coined by United States President Thomas Jefferson in 1788, alluding to the fact that a few centuries earlier the Basque people had introduced the techniques of industrial whaling to the known world at the time. Native populations such as the Inuit (formerly known by the misnomer of Eskimo) had been hunting whales before then. But it was whalers from Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and the coast of Lapurdi that introduced whaling on a commercial scale, making the activity the first industry in North America. Chronicles of the period indicate that Basques first came to North America in 1517, only seventeen years before French explorer, Jacques Cartier; however, some historians suggest they made the journey before Christopher Columbus in 1492. Whatever the case, the sixteenth century marked the golden era of Basque fishing. At that time 2,000 “arrantzales” are estimated to have set sail every year from Basque ports to the St. Lawrence River (Canada) – at that time known as Nueva Vizcaya – in search of the giant mammals that reproduced and fed in the waters of the estuary on their migration from the Arctic. Their blubber rendered down into oil was a great source of wealth for the Basque Country. According to marine archaeologist Robert Grenier, a barrel of oil from that part of the world was worth the equivalent of 7,000 dollars today. The Basques established a number of encampments in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Archaeologists with Parks Canada (a government organization for the protection of cultural heritage) have discovered at least fifteen whaling stations dating to the sixteenth century scattered across the region. The greatest number of artifacts have been uncovered in Red Bay, Labrador, a strategic location for monitoring the whales’ migration route. Among the remains still seen today are the tryworks (ovens) used for rendering the valuable whale fat into the ‘petroleum’ of the period, cooperages for making barrels, and roofing tiles brought over from the Basque Country. On Saddle Island, facing the harbor, lie the graves of 140 whalers who never made the journey home
Bale-ehizaren inguruan, euskaldunek Ipar Ameriketan lehenengo jarduera industriala barneratu zuten. XVI. mendea produktiboena izan zen eta uste da mende horretan 2.000 arrantzale inguru Euskal Herriko kaietatik San Lorenzoko estuariora joaten zirela, Kanadara, hain zuzen ere. Jarduera horrek aberastasuna ekarri zuen Euskal Herrira, baleen koipearekin lortzen zen olioa garaiko petrolioa izatera iritsi baitzen.
The relationship established between the skillful seamen and the native population people was not only commercial .The Basques also fostered linguistic exchange between Euskara and the Mi’kmaq language. A number of historical studies have documented cases of whalers leaving behind cabin boys with the Mi’kmaq people when they would return home at the end of the season. The cabin boys would then learn the native language, thus paving the way for smoother relationships the following season. The whalers would generally set sail from the Basque Country the second week of June. It took around 60 days or more to cross the Atlantic, depending on the particular conditions and difficulties that might arise. They would reach the shores of Newfoundland in the latter half of August in time to intercept the whales during their autumn migration from the Arctic Ocean to the south seas. Once they arrived, they would prepare their encampment: wharves, tryworks, cooperages and their own living quarters. The whaling season lasted through the end of the year. In winter the harbor waters would freeze over and boats could become trapped. The whalers would only stay in America during the winter if they hadn’t been able to fill the ship’s hold. When that happened they would top off the load in spring when the whales began to migrate northward. The voyage home was usually shorter, between 30 and 40 days, owing to favorable ocean currents and tailwinds. That is, if everything went well. The voyage was fraught with danger – ships could go down in a storm and whalers had to deal with European pirates.
The ‘discovery’ of Iceland
A variety of circumstances, such as the diminishing whale population and the Spanish Crown’s petition for galleons and sailors to join the frustrated Spanish Armada, brought an end to the flurry of Basque whalers in North American waters. In the seventeenth century Basque whalers continued hunting cetaceans off the shores of Newfoundland ( Labrador coast), soon followed by British and Dutch whalers, who extended their activity to the Arctic Ocean in search of new fishing grounds near the Spitsbergen archipelago. In 1613 the Basques tried to hunt whales in the waters off Iceland. This new endeavor, which started out with up to 17 ships ,lasted only three years, the experience proving to be as harsh as the climate. In fact, many Basque sailors lost their lives in the attempt – not drowned, but murdered – among them, Captain Martín de Villafranca from Donostia and twenty of his men. Icelandic historians have written about the hardships faced by Basque whalers in a poor inhospitable land. The local authorities, and in particular the shift in thinking of Danish King Christian IV, played a part in the ill-fated adventure. The Danish Crown even issued decrees allowing Basque whalers to be attacked if Icelanders felt their way of life or laws were being infringed. But according to Cambridge professor Michael Barkham Huxley, expert in maritime history and sixteenth century Basque economics , it was more a question of geopolitical and commercial interests than good or bad behavior that made the Icelandic people want to keep the lucrative business of whaling for themselves. Remnants of Basque presence in Iceland include shipwrecks off the coasts and a few vestiges similar to those found in the St. Lawrence Estuary. The arrantzales, who according to the Icelandic historians covered their heads with red berets, went back to Newfoundland but now fished for cod along with whales and seals in an attempt to keep alive the trade the Basque people had passed on to other nations.
Issue 75. Year 2006 GAURKO GAIAK 5
Basque fishing sites in Canada in the 16th and 17th centuries
In pre-Columbian America, gold, silver, and copper were the principal metals that were worked, with tin, lead, and platinum used less frequently.
Meteoric iron was used by the Indians in many parts of America. In the beginning the natives quite naturally used copper as they had used stone, shaping it into the same forms and applying the implements to the same purposes.
Mesoamericans may have used vanadium long before it was first discovered and studied by early European in that region in 1801. However there needs to be more research on the history of this transition metal to verify any proof of its usage.
Apparently what did the Mayans, Aztecs, and Olmecs used it for?
A beautiful metal that's par to none and also one of the most strongest metals on Earth.
How is vanadium used in society?
As well as making strong steel alloys, it can be used in treatments for medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol. Vanadium can also be used in the process of dying ceramics and fabrics, for creating sulphuric acid and making superconducting magnets. All-in-all, it's a very handy substance.
History
Vanadium was discovered in Mexico in 1801 by the Spanish mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río. Del Río extracted the element from a sample of Mexican "brown lead" ore, later named vanadinite. He found that its salts exhibit a wide variety of colors, and as a result, he named the element panchromium (Greek: παγχρώμιο "all colors"). Later, del Río renamed the element erythronium (Greek: ερυθρός "red") because most of the salts turned red upon heating. In 1805, French chemist Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils, backed by del Río's friend Baron Alexander von Humboldt, incorrectly declared that del Río's new element was an impure sample of chromium. Del Río accepted Collet-Descotils' statement and retracted his claim.
In 1831 Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström rediscovered the element in a new oxide he found while working with iron ores. Later that year, Friedrich Wöhler confirmed that this element was identical to that found by del Río and hence confirmed del Río's earlier work.[5] Sefström chose a name beginning with V, which had not yet been assigned to any element. He called the element vanadium after Old NorseVanadís (another name for the NorseVanir goddess Freyja, whose attributes include beauty and fertility), because of the many beautifully colored chemical compounds it produces.[5] On learning of Wöhler's findings, del Río began to passionately argue that his old claim be recognized, but the element kept the name vanadium.[6] In 1831, the geologist George William Featherstonhaugh suggested that vanadium should be renamed "rionium" after del Río, but this suggestion was not followed.[7]
As vanadium is usually found combined with other elements, the isolation of vanadium metal was difficult.
Vanadium is the 20th most abundant element in the Earth's crust; metallic vanadium is rare in nature (known as native vanadium), having been found among fumaroles of the Colima Volcano, but vanadium compounds occur naturally in about 65 different minerals.
Vanadium is often considered to be an uncommon element, but its abundance in the earth's crust is actually comparable to that of copper, nickel, and zinc. However, despite its abundance, it is one of the most expensive elements to recover. Ore values generally are 1.5 percent vanadium pentoxide.
What is the prettiest metal?
vanadium
Don't let the dumpster diving put you off – never mind gold or silver, vanadium may just be the most beautiful metal of all. It's the 22nd most abundant element in the Earth's crust, though it's rarely found naturally in its metallic form. Instead, vanadium can be found in more than 100 different minerals.May 12, 2016
Vanadium: the 'beautiful metal' that stores energy - The Conversation
Although vanadium is uncommon on Earth, it can be found in a number of minerals, many of which are quite colourful (as you can see in the mineral, Vanadinite [pictured above]). This element is most famous for the range of lovely colours shown by its various oxidation state changes.
Why is vanadium so special?
A silvery metal that resists corrosion. About 80% of the vanadium produced is used as a steel additive. Vanadium-steel alloys are very tough and are used for armour plate, axles, tools, piston rods and crankshafts. Less than 1% of vanadium, and as little chromium, makes steel shock resistant and vibration resistant.
How much is vanadium worth?
Commercial vanadium metal, of about 95% purity, costs about $20/lb. Vanadium (99.9%) costs about $100/oz.
What rock is vanadium found in?
Vanadium is not found in its metallic form in nature but occurs in more than 60 minerals as a trace element in a range of rock types. It occurs most commonly in titaniferous magnetite deposits and in uraniferous sandstone and siltstone, as well as bauxites and phosphorites. Jun 7, 2023
What does vanadium look like in nature?
Vanadium is a hard, silver-grey metallic element. It is a ductile transition metal with a natural resistance to corrosion and stability against alkalis, acids and salt water. Vanadium is found in over 60 different minerals including vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite and patronite.
is vanadium a crystal?
At room temperature vanadium has a body cenetred cubic crystal structure with a basis of one atom per lattice point. The lattice parameter is 0.303 nm. Vanadium has a Young's modulus of 130 GPa.
What type of material is vanadium?
transition metal
Vanadium is a hard, silver-grey metallic element. It is a ductile transition metal with a natural resistance to corrosion and stability against alkalis, acids and salt water. Vanadium is found in over 60 different minerals including vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite and patronite.
Early Europeans discovery of platinum in the Americas
European discovery
The first European reference to platinum appears in 1557 in the writings of the Italian humanist Julius Caesar Scaliger as a description of an unknown noble metal found between Darién and Mexico, "which no fire nor any Spanish artifice has yet been able to liquefy".[57] From their first encounters with platinum, the Spanish generally saw the metal as a kind of impurity in gold, and it was treated as such. It was often simply thrown away, and there was an official decree forbidding the adulteration of gold with platinum impurities.[56]
In 1735, Antonio de Ulloa and Jorge Juan y Santacilia saw Native Americans mining platinum while the Spaniards were travelling through Colombia and Peru for eight years. Ulloa and Juan found mines with the whitish metal nuggets and took them home to Spain. Antonio de Ulloa returned to Spain and established the first mineralogy lab in Spain and was the first to systematically study platinum, which was in 1748. His historical account of the expedition included a description of platinum as being neither separable nor calcinable. Ulloa also anticipated the discovery of platinum mines. After publishing the report in 1748, Ulloa did not continue to investigate the new metal. In 1758, he was sent to superintend mercury mining operations in Huancavelica.[57]
In 1750, after studying the platinum sent to him by Wood, Brownrigg presented a detailed account of the metal to the Royal Society, stating that he had seen no mention of it in any previous accounts of known minerals.[59] Brownrigg also made note of platinum's extremely high melting point and refractoriness toward borax.[clarification needed] Other chemists across Europe soon began studying platinum, including Andreas Sigismund Marggraf,[60]Torbern Bergman, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, William Lewis, and Pierre Macquer. In 1752, Henrik Scheffer published a detailed scientific description of the metal, which he referred to as "white gold", including an account of how he succeeded in fusing platinum ore with the aid of arsenic. Scheffer described platinum as being less pliable than gold, but with similar resistance to corrosion.[57]
._Chasqui.jpg)
