10 December 2023 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.

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

“Cardiff’s earliest house” unearthed during an archaeological dig may shed light on the city’s earliest inhabitants

15 July 2022

15 July 2022

Archaeological excavation in a city park in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has uncovered what is believed to be the...

The excavations in Selinunte, Italy, which has the largest Agora in the Ancient World, “The results have gone well beyond expectations”

29 July 2022

29 July 2022

In the Selinunte, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Greek period in Italy, the outlines of the...

Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old eyeshadow and blush in ancient Roman city of Aizanoi

24 September 2023

24 September 2023

Archaeologists discovered rare makeup products of 10 different colors and different sorts of hair accessories and jewelry during excavations at...

A 1700-year-old Roman water tunnel dug into the mountain was discovered in Adıyaman province in southeastern Türkiye

13 September 2023

13 September 2023

It was revealed that in the Besni district of Adıyaman province, located in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, the...

2,000-year-old unique luxury Roman villa with “underfloor heating” found in Germany

3 November 2022

3 November 2022

A luxury Roman villa with a thermal bath and underfloor heating has been unearthed in Kempten, Bavaria, one of the...

The Colossal Nordic Bronze Age Hall Unearthed in Germany May Be the Legendary King Hinz Meeting Hall

5 November 2023

5 November 2023

A colossal hall from the Bronze Age was discovered during excavations near the “royal grave” of Seddin (Prignitz district) northwest...

6,000-year-old Finds in Dorset Downs

11 June 2021

11 June 2021

In the Dorset Downs, a significant landscaping project has revealed a plethora of intriguing findings on a grand scale. Excavations...

The Ancestors of Today’s Barbie Dolls “Coptic dolls”

23 September 2023

23 September 2023

For as long as there has been civilization, children have played with dolls. Wooden dolls with bead hair have been...

The University of Aberdeen is to Return a Benin Bronze

5 April 2021

5 April 2021

Since Nigeria gained independence in 1960, Nigeria has been calling for the return of stolen Benin bronzes (including brass reliefs,...

Amateur divers discover ‘enormously valuable’ hoard of Roman coins

27 September 2021

27 September 2021

Two amateur free divers have found one of the largest collections of Roman coins in Europe off the east coast of Spain. Luis Lens...

A massive Rune stone found under a kitchen floor in Denmark declared treasure

8 June 2023

8 June 2023

A couple in Denmark discovered a massive rune stone weighing approximately 900 kilograms during a home renovation project that planned...

2,700-year-old bronze figurine found in Germany’s Tollence River: goddess or weight?

9 April 2022

9 April 2022

A Bronze Age female figurine discovered in the Tollense River in northern Germany may have been a goddess, part of...

Unique finds unearthed in the ancient city of Olba in southern Türkiye

16 August 2023

16 August 2023

In the excavations carried out in the ancient city of Olba, located in the Silifke district of Mersin, in the...

Structures in Turkey’s Panaztepe pointing out a 5,000-year-old settlement found

8 November 2021

8 November 2021

In the 5000-year-old Panaztepe settlement located in the Menemen district of Izmir, structures thought to belong to the oldest period...

Ukrainian Stonehenge

6 July 2021

6 July 2021

It has almost become a tradition to compare the structures surrounded by stones to the Stonehenge monument. This ancient cemetery,...