Bolivian Silver

This passage discusses the discovery of silver in Bolivia.

Lexile Level: 570L

Categories: People & Places Mystery

Five hundred years ago, the Inca started mining silver. For many years, people thought the Inca were the first to find silver. They were wrong! Scientists recently made a trip to South America where the Inca lived. They went to a country called Bolivia. On their trip, they found evidence of an ancient silver mine. They think it is five hundred years older than the Incan mines. The ancient mine produced a lot of silver. It made enough silver to equal the weight of 375 elephants. Scientists are puzzled by all this silver. They don't know what happened to it. Some say the silver is hidden. Others believe the Incas and Spaniards stole it. Then it was probably melted it into bowls, swords, and cups. Scientists aren't giving up on this mystery. They are continuing their research in Bolivia. They are hoping to find more clues to the missing Bolivian silver!