© Eberhard Karls Universität TübingenKnown sites where deposits of gold were found in the Bronze Age and circulation of a striking earring with four small spirals.
The study was initiated by Ernst Pernicka, scientific director of the Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry (CEZA) at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim and director of the University of Tübingen's Troy project, and Barbara Horejs, director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Their international team brought together scientists and archaeologists from the Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry, the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Ever since Heinrich Schliemann discovered Priam's Treasure in Troy in 1873, the origin of the gold has been a mystery. Professor Pernicka and the international team has now been able to prove that it derived from what are known as secondary deposits such as rivers and its chemical composition is not only identical with that of gold objects from the settlement of Poliochni on Lemnos and from the royal tombs in Ur in Mesopotamia, but also with that of objects from Georgia. "This means there must have been trade links between these far-flung regions," says Pernicka.
© Eberhard Karls Universität TübingenHair ornaments (top left), a pin (bottom left), necklaces (center) and a torque (bottom right) were among the total 26 gold objects from Poliochni on Lemnos that have been studied by the international team of researchers.
As well as gold, historic pieces of jewelry always contain other elements such as silver, copper, zinc, palladium and platinum. Depending on the alloy, scientists can create a distinct chemical profile for the finds and use this to draw conclusions.
© Eberhard Karls Universität TübingenNecklaces (top left), earrings (top right) and brooches (bottom) were among the total 61 gold objects from Troy that have been studied by the international team of researchers.
In total the team of researchers studied 61 artefacts, all originating from the Early Bronze Age between 2,500 and 2,000 BCE. This is also the period of the famous Priam's Treasure, which Schliemann wrongly attributed to the mythical king of Troy from the Iliad.
Experts have long debated the origin of the gold from the royal tombs of Ur as well. There are no natural sources of gold in Mesopotamia - so West Anatolia, which was also the site of Troy, was believed to be a possible source. "However, other quite different regions which are known to have had strong trade links with Ur have also been considered," says Pernicka. Comparative archaeological studies have shown from strikingly similar items that these were used in the Early Bronze Age across a large geographic area, stretching from the Aegean to the Indus valley in what is now Pakistan: official seals and standardized weights, earrings with the same spiral patterns, gemstones such as lapis lazuli or the shimmering carnelian. "The new archaeometric data open up a sound and global framework for our models of societies, their networks and the significance of resources around 4500 years ago," says Horejs.
The precise origin of the gold of Troy could not however be determined once and for all by the researchers, Pernicka says, "If we observe the share of trace elements in the gold from Troy, Poliochni and Ur, Bronze Age gold from Georgia correlates the closest with the stated find sites. But we still lack data and studies from other regions and from other objects to establish this assumption."
Publication:
Moritz Numrich, Christoph Schwall, Nicole Lockhoff, Kostas Nikolentzos, Eleni Konstantinidi-Syvridi, Massimo Cultraro, Barbara Horejs, Ernst Pernicka: Portable laser ablation sheds light on Early Bronze Age gold treasures in the old world: New insights from Troy, Poliochni, and related finds. Journal of Archaeological Science - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105694
Reader Comments
The art of alchemy was handed down through the centuries from Egypt and Arabia to Greece and Rome, and finally to western and central Europe. The word is derived from the Arabian phrase "al-kimia," (and other spellings) which refers to the preparation of the Stone or Elixir by the Egyptians. The Arabic root "kimia" comes from the Coptic "khem" that alluded to the fertile black soil of the Nile delta. Esoterically and hieroglyphically, the word refers to the dark mystery of the primordial or First Matter (the Khem).
Simplified, the aims of the alchemists were threefold: to find the Stone of Knowledge (The Philosophers' Stone), to discover the medium of Eternal Youth and Health, and to discover the transmutation of metals. To the medieval alchemist's mind the different elements were but the same original substance in varying degrees of purity. Gold was the purest of all and silver followed closely.
In the early days of alchemy, the astronomical signs of the planets were also used as alchemical symbols. Then in the centuries of medieval persecution and suppression every alchemist invented his own secret symbols. Charlatans, quacks and cheats took over and alchemy became, along with sorcery and witchcraft, infamous for fraud and extortion. In the 18th century scientists tried to pry loose the real achievements in chemistry, pharmacology and medicine from this confusing cornucopia of science and magic.
One of my favorite topics. I recreated one of the experiments to make ens of mellisa.
I did not however try it. Everything described in experiment was accurate and the result matched the description of said product.
Started making alchemical tinctures meaning all was included from the plant in use. Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur metaphors for that which you extract and recombine.
We like to explore we do.
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In regards to the Golden Chain I do now thank you. [Link]
They have some originals on the site in French and in another language I can’t remember.
Thank you, Jonathan
Part two Volume one : [Link]
Part three Volume two ; [Link]
Would you like to speculate how 'gold dust' accumulated in surface rivers?
Perhaps massive electro magnetic storms generated in the atmosphere produced emplaced 'gold' dust.
That bring to the mind's eye a phenomenal picture: showers of gold from above?
Interesting. I was not going to mention it but Ur was the Capitol of Sumer the oldest civilization where math, science, weights and balances, writing and more supposedly started.
The epic of Gilgamesh and the Abrahamic faith came from there in that Abraham was a Sumerian and left there. Wish I had the citation to ad here.
The legends of the men of renown, the giants.
And the story which correlates to your speculation of gold in the atmosphere as the stories suggest our ancestors a slave race and dug the gold up as Edward Stitchin suggests were used by the Anunaki to replenish an atmosphere to preserve a planet.
No matter how you look at it the whole thing is fascinating and I suspect truth in it as to what may have been going on so long ago.
Bless you and thank you.