Gold

A chemical element; a dense, lustrous, yellow precious metal with several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. It is attractive in color and brightness, durable to the point of virtual indestructibility, highly malleable, and usually found in nature in a comparatively pure form. It was one of the first metals to be exploited by man. Early working was basically by hammering, to which more complicated techniques like casting, soldering, granulation, and filigree were later added.

The most common source of ancient gold would have been nuggets or fine particles of native metal, not ore. Gold in this form usually occurs alloyed with other metals. To make pure gold, these impurities have to be removed by a complex refining process. In any case, the remarkable malleability of pure gold (which allows it to be cold worked without annealing) would usually be undesirable in artefacts. The metal therefore appears most often as a gold alloy. Gold, like copper, was one of the earliest metals to be exploited by man, due to its natural occurrence as nuggets of native metal.