The item is the oldest gold object ever discovered in southwestern Germany.
The item is the oldest gold object ever discovered in southwestern Germany.
An Early Bronze Age ring recently unearthed from a grave is the oldest gold object ever discovered in southwestern Germany.
Archaeologists believe they found proof of prehistoric long-distance trade after they discovered a spiral ring made of gold wire in Ammerbuch-Reusten. They assume the ring came from the Carnon River area in Cornwall, England.
The object was discovered by scientists from the University of Tubingen and heritage officials from the state of Baden-Wurttemberg in an Early Bronze Age woman’s grave that was found in autumn 2020.
According to the research team, the object represents early evidence of far-reaching luxury trade of the people of that time since precious metal finds dating to the Early Bronze Age are very rare in southwestern Germany.
The archaeologists involved in the project believe the find is approximately 3,800 years old since radiocarbon dating proved the woman’s bones date to between 1850 and 1700 B.C.
The dig was led by Jorg Bofinger from the Baden-Wurttemberg State Office for Cultural Heritage Management in collaboration with professor Raiko Krauss from the University of Tubingen.
The excavation revealed that the buried woman was lying in a fetal position and facing south, a typical burial arrangement of the late Neolithic period in Central Europe.
The spiral gold wire was detected between the woman’s remains at hip height. The team of researchers said it must have been a hair ornament, which indicated its owner was of high social status.
The object’s chemical composition revealed it also contains 20 percent silver, less than 2 percent copper and traces of platinum and tin. The pattern of these elements and the object’s natural gold blend is typical of the element drawn from points near the Carnon River in Cornwall, indicating a clear reference to northwestern Europe.
In contrast, previous gold and precious metal finds in Europe came almost exclusively from deposits in the southeast of the continent.
The research team reported that the ring confirms evidence from previous finds that gold jewelry production began in the fifth millennium B.C.
The ring represents evidence that Western cultural groups increased their influence over Central Europe in the first half of the second millennium B.C., according to the project’s leaders.
The woman’s grave was near several other Early Bronze Age burials and is apparently connected with the prehistoric hilltop settlement in the nearby town of Kirchberg.
(Edited by Judith Isacoff and Fern Siegel)
