23 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Gold from the ancient cities of Troy, Poliochni, and Ur had the same Origin

Using an innovative mobile laser method, scientists determined that gold found in ancient Troy, Poliochini, and Ur had the same origin.

A portable laser ablation system (pLA) was used to analyze samples of Bronze Age jewelry discovered in Troy and Poliochni by a team of researchers from various institutions, led by Ernst Pernicka, scientific director of the Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry (CEZA) at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim and director of the University of Tübingen’s Troy project.

The mythical city of Troy (now known as Hisarlik in Canakkale, Turkey) is a multi-period site that is now partially buried. It was the famous setting for Homer’s Iliad (one of the oldest works of Western Literature), which tells the story of a siege on the city. Poliochini was an ancient settlement on the island of Lemos that existed before Troy I was built.

Ever since Heinrich Schliemann discovered Priam’s Treasure (now held in museums in Russia and Germany) in Troy in 1873, the origin of the gold has been a mystery.

Necklaces (top left), earrings (top right) and brooches (bottom) were among the total 61 gold objects from Troy that have been studied by the international team of researchers. Photo: Christoph Schwall / Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) Vienna
Necklaces (top left), earrings (top right) and brooches (bottom) were among the total 61 gold objects from Troy that have been studied by the international team of researchers. Photo: Christoph Schwall / Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) Vienna

Professor Pernicka and the international team has now been able to prove that it derived from what are known as secondary deposits such as rivers and its chemical composition is not only identical with that of gold objects from the settlement of Poliochni on Lemnos and from the royal tombs in Ur in Mesopotamia, but also with that of objects from Georgia. “This means there must have been trade links between these far-flung regions,” says Pernicka.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The team used a portable laser ablation system to extract gold in a minimally invasive manner for their study. The larger melts created a small, microscopic hole in the samples, which were then analyzed using mass spectrometry to determine their composition. Using this method, the researchers examined 61 artifacts from the Early Bronze Age (2,500-2,000 BC).

A definite indication that the gold was washed out of a river in the form of gold dust was the high concentration of palladium, zinc, and platinum in the Troy jewelry. The researchers could also show that the samples were mass-produced and not as individual items. This is the only explanation, for example, of the same amount of platinum in samples found in different sites.

Known sites where deposits of gold were found in the Bronze Age and circulation of a striking earring with four small spirals.
Known sites where deposits of gold were found in the Bronze Age and circulation of a striking earring with four small spirals.

Meanwhile, experts have long debated the actual origin of the gold from the royal tombs of Ur. There are no natural sources of gold in Mesopotamia, which makes West Anatolia, the site of Troy, a possible source. “However, other quite different regions which are known to have had strong trade links with Ur have also been considered,” said Pernicka.

Previous research has found similar items used in the Early Bronze Age all the way from the Aegean to the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan. Lapis lazuli gemstones, official seals, standardized weights, and earrings with the same spiral patterns, for example. However, the exact origin of the gold from Troy is still unknown.

The precise origin of the gold of Troy could not however be determined once and for all by the researchers, Pernicka says, “If we observe the share of trace elements in the gold from Troy, Poliochni and Ur, Bronze Age gold from Georgia correlates the closest with the stated find sites. But we still lack data and studies from other regions and from other objects to establish this assumption.”

The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Universitaet Tübingen

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105694

Cover Photo: Christoph Schwall / Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) Vienna

Related Articles

Egyptian archaeologists discovered 16 meters long ancient papyrus with spells from the Book of the Dead

19 January 2023

19 January 2023

Archaeologists working in Egypt’s Saqqara region have unearthed a 16-meter-long ancient papyrus for the first time in a century. Saqqara...

Middle Ages living space uncovered at an altitude of 1,800 meters in eastern Turkey

20 December 2021

20 December 2021

A living space carved into a bedrock considered to belong to the Middle Ages was found at a point overlooking...

Viking Tomb Discovery in Denmark May Reveal Elite Family Linked to King Harald Bluetooth

20 June 2025

20 June 2025

A stunning archaeological discovery near Aarhus, Denmark, has revealed 30 Viking Age graves that may belong to a powerful aristocratic...

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

12 October 2022

12 October 2022

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, in the central town of Rastan, describing...

The Discovery of a Unique Pre-Viking Helmet Fragment in Lejre, Denmark

23 January 2025

23 January 2025

In Lejre, the northwestern part of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, detectorists have uncovered an exceptionally rare fragment...

Archaeologists have unearthed an incredible hoard of over 300 Iron Age ‘potins’ in West London

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

Archaeologists at an HS2 construction site in Hillingdon, West London discovered an astonishing treasure of over 300 Iron Age ‘potins”....

12,000-Year-Old Grid-Plan Structures and Water Channel Discovered at Çayönü Mound

29 July 2025

29 July 2025

New Neolithic-era discoveries at Çayönü in southeastern Türkiye, dating back to approximately 10,200–6,500 BCE, include four grid-plan buildings and a...

Archaeologists may have Found a Viking Age Marketplace in Norway

21 February 2024

21 February 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Stavanger have identified the possible remains of a marketplace from the Viking Age on a...

“Scythian golds” will be returned to Ukraine

15 November 2021

15 November 2021

The fate of the Scythian Golds, which were sent to be exhibited in the Allard Pierson Museum before the Russian...

First example of Roman crucifixion in UK discovered in Cambridgeshire village

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

In Cambridgeshire village, the earliest evidence of a Roman crucifixion has been discovered. Archaeologists investigating a previously unknown Roman roadside...

Ancient Roman coin thought to be fake -certainly authentic and proves the existence of ‘forgotten’ leader Sponsian, study claims

26 November 2022

26 November 2022

History is littered with artifacts that were later discovered to be forgeries, but the opposite can also occur. A new...

Archaeological Dig at Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre Corroborates New Testament Account of Garden

3 May 2025

3 May 2025

A significant archaeological excavation nearing its conclusion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City has yielded...

Archaeologists revealed Urartian King Menua second temple in Van excavations

22 December 2022

22 December 2022

The second temple of King Menua as well as a chamber tomb were unearthed during the excavations carried out this...

Yale Archaeologist discovered an “arcade” of rock-cut ancient mancala game boards in Kenya

2 February 2024

2 February 2024

Veronica Waweru, a Yale University archaeologist conducting fieldwork in Kenya, discovered an “arcade” of ancient Mancala game boards carved into...

Scottish Archaeologists unearth ‘missing’ Aberdeenshire monastery linked to first written Gaelic

19 November 2023

19 November 2023

One of the biggest mysteries in Scottish archaeological history has been solved with the discovery of the monastery site where...