LONDON: Evidence of a gold trading route between the south-west of the UK and Ireland dating back to the early Bronze Age has been uncovered by archaeologists.
The researchers from the universities of Southampton and Bristol used a new technique to measure the chemical composition of some of the earliest gold artefacts in Ireland, which date back to 2500 BC.
Findings show the objects were actually made from imported gold, rather than Irish. Furthermore, this gold is most likely to have come from Cornwall.
Lead author Dr Chris Standish said: ”This is an unexpected and particularly interesting result as it suggests that Bronze Age gold workers in Ireland were making artefacts out of material sourced from outside of the country, despite the existence of a number of easily-accessible and rich gold deposits found locally.
”It is unlikely that knowledge of how to extract gold didn’t exist in Ireland, as we see large scale exploitation of other metals.
“It is more probable that an ‘exotic’ origin was cherished as a key property of gold and was an important reason behind why it was imported for production.”
The researchers used an advanced technique called laser ablation mass spectrometry to sample gold from 50 early Bronze Age artefacts in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, including basket ornaments, discs and lunula (necklaces).
