Wednesday, 15th November 2006 (3503 views)

The action packed history of gold is to be told in a new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Opening on Saturday, the exhibition tells how gold was treated as just another valueless rock until around 4000 BC when it was noticed to be very rare.

Charles Spencer, who curates the show, said: "Gold is easy to work with, but for a long time it was not really good for anything other than to impress. Shiny, fantastic shapes and beautiful things."

Indeed gold drinking cups from 900 BC which were discovered in Peru and Byzantine coins are all on display in the museum.

The presentation which is called Gold will explain how different cultures have used the lustrous metal to make cultural artefacts and to show status and privilege.

Mr Spencer added: "Societies that used gold as ornamentation, money ... were societies that had social stratification.

"Even in our own culture, that's how gold operates ... I think that may be the draw."

 

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