An artifact found last year turned out to be the oldest gold object in southwestern Germany

A gold artifact discovered last fall in the area of the German municipality of Ammerbuch-Reusten, which is part of the administrative district of Tübingen, is recognized as the oldest piece of this precious metal in the southwestern region of Germany. The spiral-shaped archaeological site was found in a Bronze Age grave that also contained the remains of an adult woman. It was the only object that lay in the burial: it was located near the hip and could serve as a hair ornament.

As the results of the radiocarbon study showed, the woman was buried in the period from 1850 to 1700 BC. e. The burial can be attributed presumably to the Unetitian culture. In addition to gold, the item also contains 20% silver, about 2% copper, as well as traces of platinum and tin. According to the researchers, the finding may mean that Western cultures became more influential in Central Europe in the first half of the first millennium BC. The grave with the buried woman was not the only place studied by archaeologists in this part of the country: nearby there is a whole group of early Bronze graves associated with the settlement on the hill in Roistener-Kirchberg.