The Golden Fleece Paradox: Why did gold dissappear for centuries from ancient societies in the Caucasus? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Quaternary International, 2016
According to Greek mythology and historical sources the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Colchis was rich of "gold sands" and the natives mined this metal from the rivers, using special wooden vessels and sheepskins. Modern geological research conducted by us in the Svaneti region (Greater Caucuasus) has shown that this area is the province of the former Colchis Kingdom where it was possible to obtain abundant gold from the mountain rivers using the methods unique to this region. We think, from our investigations, that the bedrock and placer gold contents of this region give grounds to believe that there was enough gold in this region to describe Svaneti as "the country rich of this noble metal". After comparing the geological data, artifacts, myths and historical sources, we share the viewpoint of the Roman historian Apian Alexandrine (90e170 AD) and suppose that the myth about expedition of Argonauts in quest of the "Golden Fleece" to the Colchis Kingdom was a real event and that the main purpose of this mission was to obtain gold and sheepskin (fleece) technique of gold mining. Though there are a lot of varients of the explanation of the "Golden Fleece" phenomena in historical literature. According to one of the theories the "Golden Fleece" phenomena as a symbol of Colchian gold, was not confined solely to representations of actual gold mining. Other theorists saw the "Golden Fleece" as a symbol of the wealth of the Colchis, famed since antiquity for the abundance of their precious metals. The phenomena of the "Golden Fleece" according to our research, is connected with the sheepskin technique of recovering placer gold. The end result of this technique of gold recovery river gravels was a gold imprinted sheepskin, giving rise to the romantic and unidentified phenomena of the "Golden Fleece" in the civilized world.
2010
According to Greek mythology and the historical sources in Svaneti there existed "Gold sands", the natives mined gold from the rivers, using special wooden vessels and sheepskins. The geological reality of this mythological and historical "gold sands" is investigated in the paper and a schematic geological map of its distribution is given. At the same time, the artefacts of gold extraction and processing in the region have been discovered and have been compared to historical and geological data. As a result of geological research, it is shown in the article that gold-fields and river placers of different types and scale characteristic of collision orogens on the territory of Svaneti really existed. Proceeding from the foregoing the authors come to the conclusion that "gold sands" aforesaid, referred to Greek mythology and historical sources, was a geological reality, and sources of gold were ore mineralization in Svaneti. After comparing the geological ...
Bronze Age gold in Southern Georgia
ArchéoSciences, 2009
his study represents a joint pilot project between archaeological and natural sciences, aimed at exploring the technology and provenance of gold artefacts, exempliied for the case of Georgia. It is focussed on the prehistoric gold mine of Sakdrisi. he study included the investigation of both Bronze Age gold artefacts and native gold by chemical and lead isotope analyses using ICP-mass spectrometry. he analyses of the artefacts indicate that the gold which was used to manufacture the artefacts was alloyed with variable amounts of silver. Beside silver, the concentrations of platinum, osmium, and other trace elements in the gold are low. In addition to the analysis of the chemical composition, lead isotope analyses also provided insights into the provenance of the gold artefacts from the region Georgia-Anatolia-Armenia. No sophisticated treatment of the gold could be detected. Résumé : Ce travail est un projet pilote entre les sciences archéologiques et les sciences naturelles, dont le but est d'explorer les technologies et la provenance d'objets en or, présentés ici dans le cas de la Géorgie et, plus particulièrement, de la mine d'or préhistorique de Sakdrisi. Cette étude comporte l'analyse chimique et isotopique, au moyen de la technique ICP-MS, aussi bien d'objets en or datant de l'Âge du Bronze que d'or natif. L'analyse des objets a montré que l'or utilisé dans leur fabrication était allié à des concentrations variées d'argent. À côté de l'argent, les concentrations de platine, d'osmium et d'autres éléments trace de l'or sont faibles. En plus de l'analyse de la composition chimique, l'analyse des rapports isotopiques du plomb a fourni des indications sur la provenance des objets en or de la région Géorgie-Anatolie-Arménie. Aucun traitement élaboré de l'or n'a pu être identiié.
Prehistoric gold from Lake Sevan Basin? New research on Armenian gold deposits and objects
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 52, 2023
The article gives an overview of the results of a joint Armenian-German project in the area of today's open pit gold mine of Sotk in Eastern Armenia. Special attention is given to the preliminary results of the gold analysis. Interdisciplinary studies on regional natural gold deposits-especially the Sotk and Tsarasar deposits-and their archaeological context are presented together with the analytical results of 43 gold and four silver objects from five different sites in Armenia. The LA-ICP-MS data are discussed in terms of their alloy and trace element composition. They provide information on the use of raw material sources, intentional alloying, and the preferred use of these alloys. The archaeometric investigations show that the gold objects were mostly made of secondary placer gold. However, for one object, the oldest object examined in this study, the use of primary rock gold could not be excluded. Furthermore, the data provide information on the serial production of typologically identical types found at different sites, indicating that these objects were probably traded over long distances.
This paper examines new numismatic material serving as the basic chronological reference point of the burnt layer at the Artezian settlement in the Eastern Crimea, the early Citadel of which and adjoining quarters met their end during the Roman-Bosporan War of-. The-excavations yielded new nds of the remains of wooden caskets containing Bosporan coins dating from the end of the st century to the rst half of the st century , and also gold, silver and bronze jewellery items and necklaces. Apart from caskets, a signiiicant number of purses with Bosporan bronze, isolated cistophori of Ephesus and Pergamum, Roman denarii and hundreds of Bosporan coins bearing the names of the cities Caesarea (Panticapaeum) and Agrippia (Phanagoria), and also the names of the rulers Aspurgus, Gepaepyris and Mithridates were found in the burnt level. There are ten gold staters of Aspurgus and Mithridates among the most important recent discoveries. The nd of a unique Mithridates' stater marked with the year of the Bosporan Era (= //) and the analysis of the archaeological context of the burnt layer allow us to re-date the fortress' fall to autumn , or to the end of the summer – autumn. The new date of the catastrophe proves that Artezian and other fortresses of Mithridates situated in the European Bosporus, with synchronous
Archaeology and Value: Prehistoric Copper and Bronze Metalwork in the Caucasus - 2011
Studii de Preistorie 8: 111-121, 2011
Early metallurgy has long been an important aspect of accounts of prehistoric culture and society in the Caucasus. Interest has often focused on its economic importance and sources of raw materials, especially the tin needed to make bronze. While origins, economy, and sources are important to the study of prehistoric metallurgy, they do not satisfactorily explain the role of metalwork in burials or other ceremonial contexts, nor the lengths people went to in order to produce or acquire even a few metal objects. These are better approached from the perspective of the value people attached to objects and actions, which may be addressed in archaeology through correspondences between the ways in which groups of objects were made and used. This further relates to the choices and skill with which goals were met in production. This article examines evidence for early metal making practices in 3rd millennium BC metalwork from Velikent site in present day Republic of Daghestan, Russia. Patterns in metal making and metal use provide a basis for examining interactions in ancient Eurasia, in which metalwork articulated connections between individuals as well as local and distant groups.
Nino Kobalia - The Oldest Colchian Gold – Cultural Background and International Context
The Kartvelologist #29, 2021
The earliest gold items appeared in the territory of eastern Georgia during the 3rd millennium BC, in the so-called Early Barrows Culture; this continued until the Middle Bronze Age (mid-2nd millennium BC). After the Trialeti Great Barrows Culture period, almost no gold and silver items were found on the sites dating from the second half of the 2nd millennium to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Objects dating after this gap, during the 8th-6th centuries BC, have been discovered in various types of archaeological sites of Colchis. This paper aims to discuss the local and international cultural background based on which pre-classical Colchian goldsmithery was formed
The Symbol and Function of the Golden Fleece according to Caucasian-Hittite Data
2015
In recent years interesting works have been dedicated to the ethno-cultural relations of the Kartvelian-Hittite world. The interest of the scholars is particularly deepened by the fact that that Hittite realm was founded and existed near the settlement of Kartvelian (Caucasian) tribes. This fact gave rise to the cultural contacts of the representatives of these worlds. Juxtaposition of the rituals described in the Hittite written sources with the Kartvelian (and Caucasian in general) folklore and ethnographic material certifies the relations of these historic neighbors and may help reconstruct some ancient mythological and religious notions of Caucasians. This time the paper will accentuate the symbol and ritual function of the Fleece, which must have played an important role in the religious system of the people residing in Asia Minor and the Caucasus. In the legend about the Argonauts scholars pay particular attention to the symbolic importance of the Golden Fleece and plenty of opinions have been expressed on this issue. As a rule, the question of the fleece is discussed in respect with Colchis. The adventures of Jason and his friends take place in the realm of Aeetes. The plot has no analogy in the Caucasian folklore because it is a part of Hellenic culture; it originated from Greek mythology and expresses Greek people's interests. The myth glorifies the heroism of the Hellenic boatmen; however, as the epos and mythos contain the historical elements as well, it also reflects the fragments of the Caucasian mythological and religious notions. Both the folklore and the customs of the Caucasian people have preserved the fragments of worshipping sheep/goat and its hide. It embodied abundance and fertility. It is well described in fairy-tales where the sheep resists the povertyit fills with its products every corner of a house and leaves no room to brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk