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For the ancient Greeks the legendary Caucasus Mountains marked
the beginning of the ends of the Earth, and a fitting prison
for the enemies of Greece. This is reflected in the tale of
the Greek god Prometheus, who spent eternity chained to Mount
Caucasus after stealing fire from Mount Olympus. However, unlike
the invented symbolism of Prometheus’ tale, the Caucasus Mountains
were, and still are, very real. |
Rich in Silver, the vast Caucasus mountain range stretches across
present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. In time,
the Caucasus’ silver, electrum, gold and gemstone laden rivers
gave birth to legends of monsters and heroes. And like all legends,
these tales have their symbolism firmly planted in reality.
The heroes of one such symbolic tale were Jason and his crew
of Argonauts who set sail from Greece in their boat the Argo,
its name coming from the Greek ‘ Arg’, meaning ‘ Shining white
metal’, and the base for the Latin word ‘ Argentums’ meaning
Silver. |
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Jason’s crew of Argonauts featured Castor and Pollux, the brothers
of the ill-fated Helen of Troy and Armenos, the first Armenian.
Their quest was to capture the Fleece, which was the only payment
Jason could use to win back his kingdom from his evil uncle
Pelias. The Fleece was rumored to hang from an oak tree near
the river Phasis, south of the Caucasus Mountains in the Colchis
region located along the eastern shores of the Black Sea. Although,
Jason’s infamous adventures at the mercy of gods and monsters
in search of Silver and gold riches makes a compelling story,
it is only a window on an even more fascinating truth at the
root of the legend. |
Around 9500 to 9000 B.C., the world’s climate warmed and the
last ‘Ice Age’ ended. This signaled the beginning of the Neolithic
period and the rise, although evolving at different times throughout
the world, of organized community with the domestication of
livestock, irrigation, and learning of process metallurgy to
refine metals such as iron, copper, electrum, gold and Silver into utensils, weapons, ornaments and items of jewelry. |
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Through archeological
discoveries it has been possible to document that the cradle
of the first civilizations stretched out over an area from
Anatolia in western Turkey to the Arabian Gulf in the south
and east, and the outer fertile ridge that stretched over
the Caucasus Mountains to the north. Indeed, much of the gold, Silver, electrum, tin and copper used in ancient rings, earrings,
pendants and bracelets found throughout this area have been
traced to alluvial deposits of rivers and streams that run
through the Caucasus Mountains.
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For the most part during this time metals used for jewelry
were extracted from alluvial deposits, which is where silt-laden
water from rainfall collects in rivers and streams after flowing over |
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and eroding the rocks of surrounding
hills and mountains. Most methods of searching out precious
metals for jewelry depended on the human eye to pick out the gold and Silver particles, but because the Silver and gold
particles were very small they were often washed away. An
alternative method for extracting precious metals from these
deposits was found by using the fleece of a sheep. |
This was done by pouring the Silver, gold and electrum bearing
gravel over the woolen fleece. The lighter sand and rock particles
washed away over the wool but the heavier precious metal particles sunk into the wool fibers sticking to the lanolin, a naturally
occurring oil that coats the wool. The gold and Silver bearing
fleece was then hung on a branch and left to dry in the sun
after which it was burned in a high-temperature fire. The Silver, gold and electrum particles melted, dropping to the bottom of
the fire and after the fire was burnt out the metals were separated
from the ashes. |
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This method was so successful it was used up until the 1930’s
to extract Silver, gold and electrum from the Paktolas River
in Anatolia famous for King Midas’ jewelry treasures and
the minting of the worlds first gold and Silver coins
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