WHAT CAN WE INFER FROM

THIS PHOTOGRAPH?
Who would have worn these
headdresses?
What are they made of and
what do they symbolise?
Where was this culture
located?
When did this culture exist?
Why did a far more
technologically advanced,
overseas culture seek out
these types of object?
MUSEO LARCO, LIMA, PERU
Grave Goods, Crowns and
Funerary Headdresses
VICÚS CULTURE
The Vicús culture was an
important early culture in
Peru from 1000/200 BCE to
300/600 CE
It was a patriarchal society,
where the men were the only
ones who could wear jewellery
and elegant clothing, while the
women of the nobility could
only wear very simple suits.
https://www.museolarco.org/exposicion/ex
posicion-permanente/exposicion-en-linea/g
aleria-de-oro-y-joyas-del-antiguo-peru/ajua
r-coronas-y-tocados-funerarios-vicus/
Cultural Studies
Year 7
Unit 6
The Impact of Transitions in
Europe
Lesson 05
Gold
Date: 01.05.23
Title: 6.05: Gold
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a currency.

1. Misconception 2. Retrieval – from last lesson/last topic/last assessment

True or False? How did spices reach Europe before the

The origins of the spice and fur trades and where Portuguese arrived in India in 1498?
the most sought-after items could be found are
unknown today.

3. Retrieval – from last lesson/last topic/last assessment 4. Explore keyword/theme

Why, in economic terms, were fur and spices of Untangle me:

such importance during the European Age of euccnrry
Discovery?

CHALLENGE: This should challenge students and all students should attempt the challenge task
How did the Spice Trade affect the way money was raised to finance voyages to India, Indonesia, and
the Americas?
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Define
Commerce (noun)
The activities involved inWhat
buying and this
does selling things.
mean?
Move me

Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/commerce
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Define
Currency (noun)
The money that is used What
in a particular
does thiscountry
mean?at a particular time.
Move me

Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/currency
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Define
Inflation (noun)
A general, continuous increase in prices.
What does this mean?
Move me

Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/inflation
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Key Question

• How did the influx of South American gold and silver in the 16th
century affect Europe’s economy?
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Success Criteria (how do I do well?)

STEP 1: I understand that gold and silver are precious metals and have
always been a symbol of wealth.
STEP 2: I can explain why, upon the discovery of gold and silver in the
Americas, Spain began to confiscate the indigenous peoples’ cultural
goods and force them to mine for even more of these metals.
CHALLENGE: I am able to analyse the impact upon the European
economy of the importation of vast amounts of gold and silver into Spain
and western Europe in the 1500s and 1600s.
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
The Inflation from Spain’s Mountain of Silver –
Cerro Rico
• During the 1540s, Spain discovered a
mountain of silver in what is now Bolivia; the
mines produced gold, too.
• This discovery started a significant flow of
gold and silver from the New World to Spain
during the 1500s and 1600s.
• At its peak, the mines of Cerro Rico produced
almost 60% of the world’s silver output.
• It caused a sustained period of inflation in
Europe that became known as the Price
Revolution.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Rico
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Divers find $4.5 million in gold coins from a
Spanish fleet that sank 300 years ago (04:19)
• Which country did the gold coins belong to?
• Where did the gold come from originally?
• How much is the estimated missing treasure
reckoned to be worth?
• Who should be recognised as the owners of
the gold now?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq-4yY
a3GQc
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.

Textbook Task

Activities
UNIT 6
LESSON 5 α β γ
PAGE 114 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6 and 6 and 6
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Conclusion / Extension / Research
• Did the Spanish Empire, Europe’s strongest power at the time, spend
its newfound wealth wisely?
• Were the seeds of Spain’s decline sown with the discovery of gold and
silver?
• Any questions?
LO: To understand the economic issues related to the use of gold as a
currency.
Exit Pass: 6 into 5 Bingo!

Six
ways in which
South American
gold and silver
affected Europe