Examination of a collection of the oldest gold artifacts in Ireland show they were made from gold imported from England, suggesting a gold-trading route existing as far back as the early Bronze Age, researchers say.
The gold likely came from Cornwall in the southwest of England, and the trade may have been going on as early as 2500 BC, say archaeologists at the University of Southampton.
The discovery is both unexpected and interesting, said study lead author Chris Standish, because there were rich and easily accessible gold deposits in existence locally in Ireland at the time.
"It is unlikely that knowledge of how to extract gold didn't exist in Ireland, as we see large scale exploitation of other metals," he says.
"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," he suggests.
The archaeologists used an examination technique of laser-based mass spectrometry, allowing them to analyze the gold in 50 Bronze Age artifact held by the National Museum of Ireland and compare it to gold deposits located in a number of location in Ireland and England.
Cornwall in England was the most likely source of the gold, they say, and it may have been collected and then traded as part of the area's extensive tin operations.
There is evidence that tin in Bronze Age Cornwall wasn't mined but rather found in the area's rivers, using panning or sluicing techniques that could have also yielded gold.
The same techniques figure prominently in more modern gold finds, such as the California Gold Rush beginning in 1849.
Other modern gold rushes in the 19th century, characterized by a frenzied influx of people to a geographic area, occurred in Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and New Zealand.
However it was gathered in Cornwall, the researchers say, much of it left the area.
"Perhaps what is most interesting is that during this time, compared to Ireland, there appears to be much less gold circulating in Cornwall and southern Britain," Standish says. "This implies gold was leaving the region because those who found it felt it was of more value to trade it in for other 'desirable' goods—rather than keep it."
Adding to this possibility is the fact that gold has not always had the intrinsic economic value it has today, and is some ancient societies was more valued for perceived magical or supernatural powers, the researchers point out.
Thus it may have played a greater part in religious or belief systems than in economic ones, said study co-author Alistair Pike.
The study findings suggest "there was no universal value of gold, at least until perhaps the first gold coins started to appear nearly two thousand years later," he said.
Factors more complex than the trade of commodities often drove prehistoric economies, he explains, and belief systems would have had a major role.
Gold artifacts in the Bronze Age England and Ireland were item of prestige, worn by people of high status and power, and were often buried with them.
Around 1,000 Bronze Age gold artifacts are in collections in Ireland, and around 500 in Britain.
The Bronze Age in Britain is considered to have lasted from around 2500 BC to approximately 800 BC.
