What is gold?
Gold, a shiny metal is also known as a noble metal. It has been revered since time immemorial to be fit for kings and god and rightly so!
It is one of the most ductile and malleable metals and substances known to man. It is also resistant to tarnishing and maintains its original structure even under the most severe chemical stress.
Who discovered gold?
According to ancient Greek legends, there is proof that gold existed and was known to the Greeks of the Chalcolithic (5000 BC) period, also known as the early Bronze Age. They had even devised methods of refining and extracting gold from ores, including a smelting process called ‘Fire Sitting’. Later Greek geographer Strabo (64 BC – 24 AD) makes a mention of this in his works.
The early Romans from around the same time period, also had a fascination for gold and infact expanded their empire, to get more gold. They had improvised on physics to make a hydraulic gold mining machine.
The ancient Egyptians also have records of their gold mining sites in Nubia in the Turin Papyrus Map, one of the oldest topographical maps discovered.
When and where was gold discovered?
Gold objects have been found in several burial sites or old civilisation of the same time. The oldest known gold objects were discovered by chance, by a Bulgarian excavator operator, Raycho Marinov, in 1972. The ancient burial site, Varna Necropolis, dates back to 4560–4450 BC, according to carbon dating conducted in 2006.
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