Varna's gold was cast, not just hammered: a Cambridge Archaeological Journal study, plus lost-wax casting, famous in Asia. Vinča copper was smelted, not hammered. ✨
Lost-wax casting and deliberate gold alloys evidence advanced Varna metallurgy
BulgariaGeneral
Key facts
- While some early accounts proposed cold hammering, a study in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal argues the Varna gold objects were made by casting.
- There is also evidence for the lost-wax casting technique at Varna, a technique best known for intricate Asia. examples.
- Some gold objects contain enough copper to indicate deliberate alloying rather than the use of naturally impure gold.
- Varna copper was smelted and poured into molds, unlike the cold-hammered copper technique used at Vinča
- Agate beads show carefully repeated arrangements of 32 facets, requiring shaping, grinding, polishing and drilling, with a tiny gold cylinder inside the perforation probably for threading onto a necklace, bracelet or tassel; the beads are only a few millimeters across.
- A flint blade exceeding 40 cm (16 in) in length shows that stone tools remained in use alongside early metallurgy.
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