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Gold

and heat and pressure inside Earth can lead to the buildup of gold in certain areas. Gold has most often been found along with quartz in veins of rock or deposited in streambeds. Many early human civilizations came across nuggets of gold and formed objects from the soft, yellow metal. Though gold is too soft to make tools or weapons, it is easy to work with and doesn’t cor- rode. These qualities made it a perfect material for jewelry, crowns, symbolic statues or religious objects, and for coins and other units of currency. Archaeologists have unearthed gold objects dating from as long as 6,000 years ago. In 2600 bce , the Sumerian people, who lived in an area that is now part of Iraq, buried gold jewelry, bowls, daggers,

and other objects alongside their kings and queens. The ancient Egyptians found gold in the Nile River, and later started mining for gold. By 2500 bce , Egyptians had mastered the art of filigree, or forming gold into a thin wire that is then twisted to form designs. The coffin of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun

Ancient gold mining

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