Gold and Humanity: A Surprisingly Young Relationship
Gold – the eternal symbol of wealth and power? Surprisingly, this gleaming metal has only been with us for the blink of an eye on the timeline of human history. The earliest known gold artifacts were discovered in the Varna Necropolis – a prehistoric burial site near the Black Sea coast in what is now Bulgaria.A Treasure from the Depths of Time
Archaeological findings date these objects to around 4500 BC – just about 6,500 years ago. Considering that Homo sapiens has roamed Africa and later the rest of the world for about 200,000 years, this span of time feels almost laughably short.Perspective: In the grand arc of human history, the use of gold is so recent it’s like a grain of sand in a desert.
⛏️ The Varna Necropolis: A Golden Milestone
Discovered in 1972, the site is now considered one of the most spectacular prehistoric discoveries in Europe. More than 290 graves have been unearthed – offering a fascinating glimpse into a civilization that had already mastered advanced techniques.- Number of artifacts: More than 3,000 individual items
- Total weight: Around 6 kilograms of pure gold
- Crafted into: Jewelry, plates, scepters, diadems – some with astonishing craftsmanship
💍 Goldsmithing Before Its Time
What’s especially remarkable is the refinement with which these people worked gold – a level of sophistication more often expected from later high civilizations. Among the finds were:- A massive bracelet weighing over 200g of gold,
- Elaborately decorated plates and belt buckles,
- A golden scepter – likely used for ritual or ceremonial purposes,
- And finely crafted diadems and amulets.
✨ What Remains of This Ancient Brilliance?
The Varna find reshapes our understanding of human history. It reveals how early people began to associate symbolic and aesthetic value with a material that continues to fascinate to this day. And even though gold now appears in smartphones, banks, and wedding rings – its first grand stage was a prehistoric cemetery on the Bulgarian coast.Perhaps the truly astonishing part isn’t that we use gold – but how quickly it rose from the dust of history to the center of our dreams.
ATCBG/EYS/ATC
