gems, jade, Fischer-Book

An early firsthand chronicle of Peru by Pedro de Cieza de León, based on his travels through the Andes during the Spanish conquest period. The work describes the geography, peoples, customs, political organization, roads, settlements, natural resources, and antiquities of the Andean world, including detailed observations on the Inca realm and earlier cultures. Of particular gemological interest are references to gold, silver, emeralds, pearls, and other valuable materials, together with accounts of Indigenous mining, ornament, tribute, and the movement of precious substances within pre-Hispanic and early colonial Peru.