by JASON URBANUS
Gold lunula and disks, Ireland PHOTO/National Museum of Ireland
Gold has long played an important role in human societies. Its color, malleability, and resistance to corrosion have given it unequaled desirability for personal ornamentation and currency. In mainland Europe, the earliest evidence of goldworking dates back to more than 6,500 years ago in Bulgaria. For Ireland and Britain, it dates to about 2500 B.C., when early Bronze Age Irish craftsmen made great strides in metallurgy and demonstrated extraordinary skill in the production of gold artifacts.
By hammering gold into thin sheets and then forming it into objects such as sun disks, beads, oval plaques, and lunulas, or crescent-shaped neck ornaments decorated with geometric motifs, they created what were to become the most iconic gold artifacts of the early Irish Bronze Age (2200–1800 B.C.). Some 100 lunulas have been discovered by archaeologists, with more than 80 from Ireland alone, and much more early Bronze Age gold has been unearthed in Ireland than in nearby countries. Experts theorized, until recently, that Ireland was not only a center of gold production, but also, perhaps, a source of its unprocessed ore.
A recent study led by Christopher Standish from the University of Southampton has employed new scientific methods to analyze the provenance of Bronze Age Irish gold. His findings are beginning to overturn long-held assumptions. “Our lack of understanding of where the gold came from that was used for the manufacture of impressive ornaments found in Ireland has been a significant gap in our understanding of the Bronze Age in general,” he says. “Identifying which sources were exploited is vital if we want to recognize patterns of gold procurement, trade, and exchange, all of which help generate a fuller understanding of prehistoric societies, their economies, and the interactions between different groups.”
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