Edited by Brill, Robert H. MIT; Cambridge, Mass. Material from Turkey and Iran (3rd -- 6th centuries A.D.) and the northern coastal region of Peru (400 B. C. -- 100/L.D. and 1000 -- 1470 A.D.) are compared. True gilding is the external application of gold whereas depletion gilding is the enrichment of an alloy surface containing gold by dissolving or otherwise removing the other metals in the alloy. Various ancient and modern gilding methods are discussed along with some laboratory experiments on gilding. Various analytical techniques, especially the electron microprobe, were used. One of the objects from the Near East was gilded with gold leaf, and the other four were gilded by mercury amalgam techniques. The Peruvian objects showed no residual mercury, but the parent alloys contained 7-10% gold, suggesting that a cementation or depletion gilding process (a process known in the area) was used. An application of gold leaf to the surface is still a possibility. -- AATA