![]() ![]() Historical descriptions of both techniques for mining Colchis’ “gold sands” go back about 2,000 years.Īrchaeologists have found no remnants of ancient Colchis, leading some to conclude that it was a mythical invention. Okrostsvaridzeįurther downstream, miners strain gold through oval, perforated wooden vessels. The precious metal shown covers an area about 20 millimeters across. Present-day villagers in Georgia’s Svaneti region used wooden vessels and sheepskins to collect these gold grains and flakes from streambeds. ![]() ![]() Pieces of gold erode out of rocky deposits, wash downstream and get trapped in the animals’ coats. Rocks and ropes hold down each sheepskin. Present-day miners place entire sheepskins in streambeds within 100 to 500 meters of gold deposits, Okrostsvaridze says. “Our results show that the geological situation in the Svaneti region is the same now as it was 3,300 to 3,500 years ago, when the Argonauts traveled to the kingdom of Colchis,” Okrostsvaridze says. ![]()
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