Changes

==Role in Society==

In the cases where gold was found at relatively early dates, several characteristics are evident. For one, gold is often found in funerary contexts, suggesting it was both a status symbol in life but also something to be taken to the next life. Interestingly, in many of the finds from the Old and New World indicate that gold, despite its rarity, was from its onset a way to display power in the afterlife and as a way to remind others of the power and prestige of the individual to members of society after they had passed away. <ref>Boyle, Robert W. 1987. ''Gold History and Genesis of Deposits''. Boston, MA: Springer US. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1969-6.</ref> This concept continues when we see the development of state societies. Kingship, and by extension the state, begin to utilize gold more frequently for burials and in many of these cases it was a way to display power in the present and afterlife.

Nevertheless, there are key differences with how gold was treated in early societies. In the ancient Near East, gold was often found as jewelry with women, suggesting women often wore gold as representing family wealth or were often the ones who literally wore the family's wealth. <ref> For further information on women in ancient Near East society and wealth, see: Chavalas, Mark W., ed. 2012. ''Women in the Ancient Near East: A Sourcebook. Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World''. London: Routledge.</ref> One can consider gold and women's jewellery as a repository of the family wealth. This could also be one reason why we find female burials often having large quantities of gold, as not only did they literally carry the gold but the family wealth is best shown off utilizing the female members. For example, the burial of the Queen or Priestess of Puabi from the ancient city of Ur is one example of this (Figure 4).

It is also by the 3rd millennium BC that we begin to see gold having more of a trade value, although very likely this occurred earlier. We see evidence of gold being shipped in from distant regions, such as India or Anatolia, in places such as Mesopotamia. In the 2nd millennium BC, when the trade in gold became more substantial in the eastern Mediterranean region, it is during this active time of trade that gold becomes a standard used to measure value of other commodities. In fact, gold, between 1600-1200 BC or the Late Bronze Age, was becoming the basis of value for many valuable objects now being traded between Central Asia and the Mediterranean, including metals such as tin and copper. <ref> For more information on the Late Bronze Age gold standard, see: Edwards, Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen, ed. 2003. ''History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region C. 1380 - 1000 B.C.'' 3. ed., 6. printing. The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 2, Pt. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.</ref> However, this was a relatively exceptional period, as in most other Bronze Age periods silver was considered the more common standard, given its greater prevalence. <ref>For a history of gold and its role in ancient societies, see: Bernstein, Peter L. 2004. The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession. Illustrated ed. New York: Wiley. </ref>