"The Golden Fleece - Ancient treasures of Georgia."

Temple Hangers (pair) 4 th century B.C. Sadzeguri, Akhalgori treasure.

Hangers are completely decorated with granulation. It is considered as the local production.

In 1908 the Akhalgori treasure was discovered by the local population. It is supposed that so called Akhalgori treasure was the part of the sepulcher of nobles.

Objects found show the influence of Hellenistic art, since it multiplies the spread of the Greek colonies on the coast of Colchis in the Black Sea in all the ancient writings on the Argonauts speaks of the wealth of the region due to the presence of gold. 

"The Golden Fleece - Ancient treasures of Georgia."

Necklace from Kurgans Trialeti, early second millennium.
 

Found in the necropolis of Georgia,in  ancient Colchis, the destination of Jason and his companions. The name "Colchis" appears for the first time in the myth of the Argonauts. 

4.0 out of 5 Stars "Super Thriller" Harriet Klausner

(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)

In 1953, archaeologist Rene Joffroy leads a dig near Vix, Burgundy. He believes the fields below Mont Lassois contain an ancient burial site. The excavation finds an incredibly preserved krater and a tomb of a two and a half millennia woman surrounded by treasure. Joffroy and others wonder who she was and why foreign items like an urn were buried in France.

In 2007 Venice, American magazine writer Bianca Evans Caldwell and Italian archaeologist Giovanni de Serlo meet at the wedding of family members Alegrea Bona Dea and Jonathan Evans. They enjoy discussing their love of the past with the mystery of Vix enthralling both of them. She returns to New York while he goes back to a dig Puglia, Italy. However, she begins having dreams about Zatoria; a woman whom Bianca thinks is long dead. She returns to Italy and with Giovanni's help, begins to follow the trail of the enigmatic Vix Krater.

From Roumania Bronze "Crow" Helmets.

 
A bronze Celtic helmet from Canosa di Puglia, Italy.  This 4th century B.C. bronze helmet with coral inlays was found in Canosa, a small town mere n the Adriatic Sea. Its discovery proves the presence of Celts in Italy.  The helmet is contemporary with the founding of a Celtic settlement on the Adriatic north of Ancona by the tribe of the Senones who migrated from the area around Sens, in Burgundy.   The town to this day has the name Senigallia, to mean Gaul of the Senones.  These were the fierce Celts who sacked Rome and the shrines of Delphi in Greece.  We'd always bypassed Senigallia on our way to Venice from Vieste, my father's hometown, but we'd never stopped there until this year.  -I  was disappointed not to have found any remains of Celtic culture,only a luxury seaside vacation spot with charming hotels, and the  immense Rotondo del Mare, sitting right on the sea and reached by a board walk. 



These birds on these bronze Celtic helmets had beady red glass eyesemi and movable wings which flapped when the warrior charged, running to the enemy,paralyzed with fear. The wail of the carnyx, the immense bronze trumpet, also instilled panic in the enemy. 

Hochdorf Prince: Detail of the Lion on the Giant Cauldron

Il Vello d'Oro: antichi tesori della Georgia

Ancient Gold Objects From Vani, Georgia

Inspired by the myth of  Jason and the Argonauts. these objects are seen as a  cultural bridge between Europe and Asia. Over forty years of excavations at Vani, "the Pompeii of Colchis,"  have returned all sorts of wonders. In particular, sumptuous funerary objects found in the tombs when  the kingdom reached the peak of wealth and splendor. (4th and 5th century B.C."
 
These objects, considered to be the most valuable, are connected to the legend of Jason and Medea, through a narrative that binds them to the mythology and culture of the western Mediterranean.

Studies of Ancient Gold Artifacts Woven into New Novel By Terry Stanfill

 Posted by The Silo

If ever gold was precious, it’s now. “Gold has remained at or near record high prices , even while the value of other commodities falls,” notes art expert Terry Stanfill, author of Realms of Gold: Ritual to Romance www.realmsofgoldthenovel.blogspot.com , a book that blends factual ancient art and history with modern, fictional romance.

“This past summer, we were all about the gold – our athletes’ gold medals, which, by the way, had the highest value of any Olympic gold medals in history at $708.”

More than two-thirds of the world’s gold demand is for jewelry, she says, of which the United States is the third-largest consumer, behind India and China.

But Stanfill, who studies ancient gold artifacts and weaves them into her newest novel, says we are hardly the first to become enamored of the rare yellow metal.   

“The first discoverers of gold were prehistoric, well before the civilizations of the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Sumerians,” she says.

But gold soon attracted the admiration of the rich and royal, and since then, kings and emperors, explorers, pirates, and thieves.

“Gold figures prominently in the art and currency of the ancient European civilizations I research. It’s one of the most enduring metals, by every definition of the word,” Stanfill says. “Because of that, the gold jewelry, shoes, vessels and other artifacts unearthed by archaeologists continue to tell their stories centuries later.”

Stanfill shares some other precious golden nuggets:

• Jason and the Golden Fleece, myth or reality?

Roman historian, Strabo(1st century B.C.) wrote about villages by the Kuban River in the Ukraine, where gold collectors used sheepskins to trap the fine gold particles in the rivers and streams flowing from the Caucasus Mountains. The skins could then be dried and beaten to shake out the gold dust. This practice continued well into the 20th century. It’s very possible Jason and the Argonauts sailed to Colchis, a kingdom on the Black Sea, searching for gold. They most likely heard about this wondrous process from other seafarers and traders.

• Why so popular for so long?

One of the reasons gold has been valued since prehistoric times is, frankly, its beauty. The gleaming yellow metal has a color and brilliance unmatched in the mineral world. Another reason is that the world has precious little of it. In all of history, just less than 364 million pounds have been mined. Only 5.5 million pounds a year are mined now.

• The stuff of classic fashion.

Evidence of ancient art in contemporary architecture, sculpture and other designs is all around us. But nowhere is it as surprising to see as in modern jewelry. Choker-style necklaces made of rigid metal, so popular today, date back to the 8th century B.C. They were a multi-cultural phenomenon, worn in some societies by men and in others by women. For the Celts, they were a symbol of strength and power, and ancient Celts were often identified by the torques they wore not only around their necks but around their waists and wrists (bracelets!)TerryStanfillAuthor Studies of ancient gold artifacts weaved into new novel.

Author Terry Stanfill

Even as modern society hoards gold as a hedge against the volatile world economy and watches as the price per ounce rises and dips, Stanfill says the true value, for her, is in its history.

“Some of mankind’s most beautiful artwork – his very best efforts – were created from gold, and they endure today,” she says. “Without gold, we might not know the status of people found in ancient tombs, and we would not have the vast collection of centuries old artworks that we do today.

“The value of gold that never changes is in how it allows the ancients to communicate with us.”

Terry Stanfill holds a degree in English literature with a minor in medieval history. She is an Overseer of the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. An enthusiastic preservationist, she was decorated by the president of Italy with the Ordine al Merito, Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana, and more recently as Commendatore, for her fundraising efforts for the restoration of San Pietro di Castello, the ancient cathedral of Venice. She is a former international representative for Christie’s auction house and former director of Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif. 

Realms of Gold: Ritual to Romance is her third novel and it has received glowing praise; Kirkus Reviews described it as, “An erudite thriller that recalls Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series—only smarter.” Stanfill is married to Dennis Stanfill, former CEO of 20th Century Fox and MGM Studios.

Ancient Gold: Celtic Helmet

Musée d’Angoulême

This impressive piece of art was buried in a cave in Agris, western France. The entire cap, neck guard and cheek guards were embellished with a lavish gold tendril and leaf design. Together with the gold, the inset coral. highly valued by the Celts, make this helmet a stunning example of Celtic workmanship.  Somewhat later than the Lady of Vix, About 350.B.C

Gold Over Bronze. Coral Inlay   Found in 1980's in a Cave in Western France

Fabulous video of the Celtic exhibit in Bern

This video is a tour of the Art of the Celts exhibit in Bern, Switzerland. The gold objects are stunning--some of the most important from the Celtic world.

Hochdorf Prince: Birch-bark Hat

The birch-bark hat was found at the head of the couch, together with the remains of the comb. The hat is simple and conical in shape; not very regal to our eyes. 

However, it was very carefully decorated with row upon row of stamped designs. It is now recognised that the Hirschlanden "warrior" wears a very similar hat. Undoubtedly more than a sun-hat, this delicate headgear must have formed some part of the Prince's regalia.