Gold
Oro (Au, Z=79)
- Date
- c. 4500 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Varna, Bulgaria (necropolis)
- Credited to
- Unknown (prehistory)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Native metal worked since prehistory; the oldest known gold objects come from the Varna necropolis (c. 4500 BCE).
Prehistoric element; approximate date.
What it led to
- Coinage and the gold standard
- Jewellery and goldsmithing
- Contact electronics and gold nanoparticles
Built on
- Cold-hammered native copperc. 8000 BCE
- Nugget gathering
Made possible
- Coinage
- Gold leaf