page_title: Gold working in the Bronze Age British Isles
section_title: Social stratification
hierarchical_section_title: Gold working in the Bronze Age British Isles / Gold in Bronze Age society / Social stratification
caption_attribution_description: The Burton Hoard
context_page_description: Gold working in the Bronze Age British Isles refers to the use of gold to produce ornaments and other prestige items in the British Isles during the Bronze Age, between circa 2500 and c.800 BCE in Britain, and up to about 550 BCE in Ireland. In this period, communities in Britain and Ireland first learned how to work metal, leading to the widespread creation of not only gold but also copper and bronze items as well. Gold artefacts in particular were prestige items used to designate the high status of those individuals who wore, or were buried with them.
  Around 1,500 gold objects dating to the Bronze Age survive in collections, around 1000 of them from Ireland and the other 500 from Britain; this is a much smaller number than would have been originally crafted, leading archaeologists to believe that "many thousands of gold objects were made and used" in the Bronze Age British Isles.
  Records indicate that Bronze Age gold artefacts had begun to be discovered by the 18th century at the least, although at the time many were melted down or lost.
context_section_description: In Bronze Age Britain, gold objects were prestigious items, and archaeologists believe that those who owned them, or were buried with them, had a high status in society. Archaeologist George Eogan noted that gold reflected "ostentation in society, a society that has divisions along rank."
caption: The Burton Hoard, from Burton, Wrexham. The gold items are a folded torc, a twisted-wire bracelet, a necklace pendant, 4 beads and 3 rings (National Museum Wales).
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