6,500 YEAR OLD BLING: the surprising truth about the EARLIEST GOLD - Varna Culture

First, we have to tell you that the thumbnail image and the reference to an Austin Powers character is perfectly valid and we’ll tell you why in the show.

In the meantime, did you know that the earliest known items to be made of gold were not created by the Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks or Romans?

In fact hey were made by people living on the west coast of the Black Sea in what is now Bulgaria.

Settle in because there are a few more surprises in store as we do our best to tell you about the Varna Culture from 6,500 years ago.

00:00 - Intro & Titles
00:37 - The Varna Cemetery & Culture
01:26 - Background to new research
02:59 - Old Europe
04:52 - The Discovery
06:08 - Goldmember
12:12 - A civilisation - but for one thing …
16:24 - Fine pottery the key to metal?
17:53 - Greek & Balkan ‘tells’
21:41 - ‘Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge’ film series
22:40 - Varna culture traders
23:47 - Is the gold a distraction?
27:15 - The meaning of the penis sheath?
28:37 - Outro & goodbyes

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[liamredmill]

You should give further mention to Bulgaria's 8thousand year old neolithic "salt mine", it does explain autonomy and independence geographically

[madderhat]

The Black Sea is a fascinating area with so much to offer archaeology.

[rodmarker]

As a geologist Gold seems perfectly logical, it is one the few metals that is so unreactive it can be found in it's native state. No complex extraction. No mining necessary depending on where you are. It is very soft to beat out and make things from. It's nice and shiny, does not tarnish, if it is too pure it can wear thin. Copper, Tin, Bronze, Iron all are much harder to extract and work with.

[huskytail]

I know people always find the gold [member] fascinating but to me, the most fascinating and important has always been the first stratification of society that's seen in the Varna culture. I don't know if anyone can underestimate the importance of this particular find.

Thank you for the interesting video 👍

[maisondusuave]

I discovered the Danube cultures about 3 years ago. Mind. Blown. Earliest appearance of the Yin-Yang symbol! So much more! Please tell us more about Lepinski Vir, Vinca-Turdas, Cucteni-Trypillian....

[josephkania]

Maybe these Varna folks saw gold in a similar way to pre-Columbian Americans. Though the Americans valued gold it was not a form of currency. It was pretty and useful for adornement but nothing to fight and die over.

[klondikechris]

You hinted on something, i.e., their not regarding gold in the same way as money. Why should they, just because we do? I live in the Klondike that had the world's largest gold rush in 1898, as some of the richest concentrations of placer gold were here. But, it's been here for a very long time, as have the natives - something around 25, 000 years. They had no use for gold! I know a story where a woman as a girl used to toss the yellow rocks into a river as they looked pretty when sinking. The son of that woman is still alive here today! As a soft metal, it was easy to form, so useful for jewellery, but its intrinsic value to the community may have been completely different to the way we treat it today. Still a cool find though!

[roxiepoe]

My guy is very hard to shop for. Thank you for the golden idea. Happy Birthday! :)

[maggiemaloney]

Extraordinary! I get the feeling that the skills required to fashion the gold as well as the pottery and the flint are what distinguished and were valued in that culture...a culture of artisans as differentiated from a warrior or building culture, etc.

[roddixon]

Great show. Another example that shows the importance of water to early trade routes and settlements.
Also great to hear you include the Black Sea area in your future plans. I think it is another important area for our early history.

[TheSnoopoff]

Bulgaria has a vast ammount of amazing archaeological sites, which, unfortunately, are not being properly excavated due to poor financing. Also because of the sheer corruption a lot of articats are sadly being sold to the black market. Shame really...

[helenamcginty]

When considering what did people wear what was the weather like? People are often shown half naked even in supposedly just post glacial europe when they were more likely to be dressed more like traditional Innuit people.

[helenamcginty]

Several comments suggesting gold was just pretty rather than wealth deserve thought. It is soft, as is silver. Useless for weapons or tools for example. (Especially for cutting mistletoe 😂) I learnt silver smithing at night school in a local school. We also learnt to work gold. (Basic stuff like a ring or bracelet). The heat from a butane torch is all that is needed plus a steady hand. The skill is in the detail of jewelry and other items. I think making pots takes longer to learn.and smelting copper etc is far more impressive a skill.

[vomact]

Always a great Sunday afternoon with you blokes!. Always fascinating and informative. Rock on dudes!

[Gianfranco_]

"Colchis" was across the water...they had some Gold, they used Sheepskins to pan for it...turned into legends Of Golden Fleeces

[GoodForYou]

Thank you for this really interesting conversation. For the last 6 years, as a job, I've taken care of a remote "off grid" summer home during the winter months in northeast US. After a learning curve the first couple of years, I came to value the basics for those months. Clean water, storable food, tools, basic med kit, firewood, and warm clothes all became more way more valuable to me than any bling. That being said, I also found that I would really think about what book, music, movie, football game, or learning I would enjoy after the workday was done and I came to value that somewhat more than basics. So, in my experience, because of the limited options they had at that time, I would suggest that these burials were not just the high priests and keepers of the culture, but also the rock stars, Brad Pitts, Mr. Beasts, sports stars, teachers, and top authors all wrapped up in one. I believe that's why they had so much glitter and pomp and were so revered in death ceremonies.

[youlemur]

more eastern europe please, its absolutely staggering

[patrickdurst]

isn`t there that flood theory for the black sea about around this time period - the area had constant tectonic movements... are there where building found below water ? if you look a map there is a clear shape of a former coastline all around the black sea. what are you thoughts ? crap or worth digging /diving into it

[badgerpa]

Neat site, I varna go there. Stay safe and healthy Gents.

[chegeny]

Thank you for the fascinating discussion. At the risk of speculation I'd say ostensibly that the golden sheath would infer the personal power of their king. All that gold wasn't made into abstract religious things, but worn by one man, like a living god. Varna seems to be a quite different world from old hunter-gatherer Europe, like Gravettian culture and their Venus figurines.