Gold and Silver During the 3rd Mill. Cal. BC

Abstract

Gold and silver entered the archaeological record in different periods and regions. Research on the sources and technological processes connected with early silver are of considerable interest, as the results could be used to check models of interaction. Silver appeared in the Near East as well as in Europe in the 4th mill. cal. BC, but for a long time, it played only a marginal role in the real value systems of the European continent. In the Near Eastern borderlands, the relative scarcity of precious metals in the Levant contrasts with the situation in the Caucasus, where at the turn from the 4th to the 3rd mill. cal. BC sumptuary goods of gold and silver in tumulus burials are paired with settlements of an altogether unsophisticated type. At the same time, people from southeastern Europe, the Adriatic and several islands of the Aegean were participating in networks of exchange operating in two directions: the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. The rest of Europe was split into at least two areas of different social display. From Central Europe hardly any precious metal finds are known so far from contexts dated around 3000 cal. BC. This negative evidence contrasts with the gold finds of the pre-bellbeaker period of the Iberian peninsula and southern France. The situation changed in the middle of the 3rd mill. cal. BC, when gold metallurgy expanded into new areas, and some silver arrived in Central Europe.