L’or dans l’Antiquité
[EN] Throughout history, gold has been a sign of stability and continuity, primarily because of its particular physical and chemical characteristics. It is almost always found in its natural state, with traces of silver and other metals, either embedded in ore and sterile material in primary deposit...
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| Formato: | otro |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2003 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/369310 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/369310 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Resumo: | [EN] Throughout history, gold has been a sign of stability and continuity, primarily because of its particular physical and chemical characteristics. It is almost always found in its natural state, with traces of silver and other metals, either embedded in ore and sterile material in primary deposits or rock, or completely free in secondary or alluvial deposits. The grains found in the second are usually larger than in the first. The extraction of gold from the deposits is based on using water to flush out these minute grains or gold dust and allow them to settle by gravity; thus the first and simplest method used was the panning of the placers washed down by the rivers. The exploitation of the consolidated placers and even gold lodes is documented as early as the prehistoric period. The introduction of gold coinage in the ancient world brought about a notable change in all respects. The precious metal no longer had a more or less symbolic value and became an essential standard of value within the economic system. This led to improvements in the processes of refining it and encouraged the systematic search for deposits and the extension and intensity of mining them: there were more gold mines in operation in the old world than during the Roman Empire than at any other time. Research into this highly prized metal in Antiquity have evolved from an initial interest in discovering its origins to studies focusing on discovering the technology used for extracting and working it, and paying greater attention to the development of the communities that mined and worked with it. Today it is essential to apply the most up-to-date analytical techniques in order to achieve a reliable historical evaluation. |
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