Oldest known Gold Jewelry in Europe Discovered at Bronze Age Bulgarian site

The first gold jewelry known to have been fashioned in Europe, about 6,600 years ago in Bulgaria, has been discovered in what the lead archaeologist calls the oldest prehistoric town in Europe. The gold pendant is small—just 2 grams—but it is an important find.

Archaeologists uncovered the precious piece in what they call Solnitsata—a Bronze Age settlement near the town of Provadiya in the Varna region that had two-story houses about 4,400 BC. The gold, plus the houses and other developments prompted a researcher to speculate that the people of northern Bulgaria were highly advanced.