Prehistoric Gold Trade Route Discovered: Irish Gold Wasn't Actually from Ireland

Scientists may have discovered evidence of an ancient gold trade route between the southwest of the UK and Ireland. They've found that people may have traded gold between the two countries as far back as the early Bronze Age.

In this latest study, the researchers used a new technique to measure the chemical composition of some of the earliest gold artefacts in Ireland. The findings revealed that the objects were actually made from imported gold rather than Irish gold. In addition, the gold most likely came from Cornwall.

"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 the country, despite the existence of a number of easily accessible and rich gold deposits found locally," said Chris Standish, the lead author of the new study, in a news release. "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."

During this time period, at around 2,500 BC, there appears to be much less gold circulating in Cornwall and southern Britain. This implies that gold was leaving the region.

"The results of this study are a fascinating finding," said Alistair Pike, co-author of the new study. "They show that there was no universal value of gold, at least until perhaps the first gold coins started to appear nearly two thousand years later. Prehistoric economies were driven by factors more complex than the trade of commodities-belief systems clearly played a major role."

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.

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