World’s Oldest Gold Found in Europe

The intricacy of the work lies in the fact that the bead is small, measuring just 0.16 inches (four millimeters) in diameter and weighing 0.005 ounces (15 centigrams).

According to Yavor Boyadzhiev, associated professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, the fortified site was the first urban settlement in Europe, founded around 6,000 B.C.

“Its position along with the pottery found within the building are evidence enough to date it to the middle of the Copper age, around 4,500–4,650 B.C.,” he added.

The dating would make the tiny gold artifact some 200 years older than the cache of gold found previously in a Copper Age necropolis in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.

Excavated between 1972 and 1991, Varna yielded what was assumed to be the oldest gold of mankind.

“The gold found in Varna is dated to the middle of the late Copper age, around 4,200–4,400 B.C. and is without doubt younger than the bead from Yunatsite,” Boyadzhiev said.

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