A group of archaeologists led by Dr Christopher Standish from the University of Bristol and the University of Southampton suggests people were trading gold between the south-west of the UK and Ireland as far back as the early Bronze Age (2500 BC).
A gold lunula and two small gold discs dating to the Early Bronze Age (2300-1800 BC). Image credit: National Museum of Ireland.
The team used a new technique called laser ablation mass spectrometry to measure the chemical composition of 50 Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age gold artifacts in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, such as: basket ornaments, discs and lunula (necklaces).
The scientists measured isotopes of lead in tiny fragments and made a comparison with the composition of gold deposits found in a variety of locations.
After further analysis, they concluded that the gold in the objects most likely originates from Cornwall, UK, rather than Ireland – possibly extracted and traded as part of the tin mining industry.
“This is an unexpected and particularly interesting result as it suggests that Bronze Age gold workers in Ireland were making artifacts out of material sourced from outside of the country, despite the existence of a number of easily-accessible and rich gold deposits found locally,” Dr Standish said.
“It is unlikely that knowledge of how to extract gold didn’t exist in Ireland, as we see large scale exploitation of other metals. It is more probable that an ‘exotic’ origin was cherished as a key property of gold and was an important reason behind why it was imported for production.”
Today, gold is intrinsically linked with economic wealth, is universally exchangeable and underpins currencies and economies across much of the globe.
However, gold may not always have had this value – in some societies, gold was seen to embody supernatural or magical powers, playing a major role in belief systems rather than economic ones. The value and significance placed on gold may have varied from region to region.
“The results of this study are a fascinating finding,” said team member Dr Alistair Pike of the University of Southampton.
“They show that there was no universal value of gold, at least until perhaps the first gold coins started to appear nearly two thousand years later. Prehistoric economies were driven by factors more complex than the trade of commodities – belief systems clearly played a major role.”
The results are reported in a paper published online by the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society on April 08, 2015.
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Christopher D. Standish et al. A Non-local Source of Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Gold. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, published online April 08, 2015; doi: 10.1017/ppr.2015.4
