A new approach for golden treasures – Innovative Analyses in Archaeometry

Starting point for this innovative approach are the famous treasures of the Early Bronze Age settlements of Troy in western Anatolia with a large number of golden objects. The majority of these finds can be associated with the phases of Troy II and III, dating to the Early Bronze Age 2–3. Remarkable is the enormous number of high quality gold objects like vessels, jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, needles, pendants and so-called ‘Lockenringe’).

Participants: Barbara Horejs, Ernst Pernicka, Moritz Numrich, Christoph Schwall, Jasmin Huber, Reinhard Jung

The large number of gold objects, especially jewelry partially with filigree gold applications are striking and raise the question of the people who have produced and worn these precious objects. Interestingly, the appearance of the practice to hoard prestige objects is unknown in earlier times in western Anatolia. This phenomenon seems to be related to the formation of hierarchical structures and the appearance of ‘proto-urban’ centers (i.e. Troy II, Liman Tepe V) in the developed Early Bronze Age 2 period. The influence of these centers can be deduced from surprisingly similar jewelry (earrings, pendants and ‘Lockenringe’) from a golden treasure found in phase ‘giallo’ of the settlement Poliochni on Lemnos. This island is located in front of the western Anatolian coastline and not far away from Troy. Also, a similar date of this treasure to the Early Bronze Age 3 is assumed.

With the appearance of the accumulation of prestige objects, it is worthwhile to consider the development of ‘proto-urban’ societies rooted in the Late Chalcolithic Period (4^th millennium BC) and continuing in the Early Bronze Age 1 (early 3^rd millennium BC) in western Anatolia. Gold finds dating to these periods are known from the sites Ege Gübre, Bakla Tepe, Liman Tepe, Çukuriçi Höyük, Beşiktepe close to the western Anatolian coastline as well as one object assigned to the region of Sardis. In Ege Gübre a golden so-called ‘ring idol’ was found which was dated by radiocarbon to the first half of the 4^th millennium BC and represents the earliest find of precious metal in western Anatolia. Among the few gold objects three golden ‘ring idols’ are surprising. In general, the shape of the idols is typical Balkanic and well known in this region. On the basis of the ‘ring idols’, a link between the Balkans and western Anatolia is favored by several scholars. Gold finds are also well known in the Balkans and attested by the rich burial gifts of the Varna cemetery dating to the 5^th millennium BC and indicating a differentiated social structure of the society. For investigating possible connections between the Balkans and western Anatolia further gold artefacts found at Dubene in Bulgaria will be analyzed. Besides the planned analyses of the golden treasures from Troy at the museum in İstanbul and the finds from Poliochni at the museum in Athens, the countless gold objects from Dubene at the National Museum Sofia offer the best conditions in order to create a basis for comparing the data.

An unsolved question requires an answer: if the early gold finds in western Anatolia can be seen as indicators of a formation of hierarchical structures. In case of the gold finds, the provenance of the gold is important and still unknown. The innovative method with a transportable device for minimally-invasive gold sampling based on laser technology offers the opportunity to analyze certain objects of the golden treasures of Troy as well as selected pieces from other sites. The results may yield information on the socio-cultural background of the treasures and uncover regional and supra-regional contacts, which are essential for their understanding. Nevertheless, the occurrence of gold treasures can be seen as a marker for the emergence of social elites leading to the formation of complex societies, which are attested in Early Bronze Age Troy.

https://www.orea.oeaw.ac.at/en/research/prehistoric-phenomena/a-new-approach-for-golden-treasures/