Pre-Columbian functional equivalents of vulcanization and their significance for the history of rubber

Rubber is one of the most important materials in the modern world. The substance has a dual history: one part played out in Central and South America, where rubber was already being used in pre-Columbian times. The other part took place in North America and Europe, where rubber in a certain sense was reinvented. This article focuses on the little-known indigenous use of rubber in South America, especially in the Amazon basin, and demonstrates that the indigenous processing of rubber was in no way inferior to western rubber technology. It is shown that the indigenous people possessed a functional equivalent to vulcanization that made their rubber products resistant to wear and tear. Several arguments that aim to belittle the technological competence of the indigenous rubber technicians are discussed and refuted