Yes, there are certainly earlier instances of human attraction to quartz and
other crystals, but this thread was about metal-bearing (ore) minerals.     

-----Original Message-----
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Susan Stock
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 11:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Earliest gold

From Michael Chazan, University of Toronto:
"There is far earlier evidence for selection of minerals by hominids  
including quartz crystals from Wonderwerk Cave, SA. No gold or  
diamonds yet!  Michael"  

>>> [log in to unmask] 11/20 12:40 PM >>>
The available evidence from Cöyönu Tepesi (Eastern Turkey) richly 
supported by radiocarbon dates to 7200 BC ± 250 and recently confirmed 
(A*ikli in Turkey) show worked copper (native copper)in the form of a 
'trinket metallurgy' (including one fishhook(?)).
R. Maddin

[log in to unmask] wrote:
> The earliest known site that has definite evidence of deliberate 
> selection of
> metal-bearing minerals is (to my knowledge) Blombos cave on the 
> south-eastern
> coast of South Africa. This has produced a piece of haematite engraved 
> with
> designs, and "crayons" of hematite that have evidently been ground 
> against a
> surface to produce powdered hematite for pigment. This evidence is 
> well-dated
> by thermoluminescence (see the most recent issue of Archaeometry) in 
> the range
> 70,000 to 76,000 years ago. Some site reports for much older sites (in 
> Olduvai
> Gorge, for example) report finds of "ochre", presumably iron oxide or
> hydroxide, but as these are apparently not worked it is difficult to know
> whether they were deliberately selected or not. Much of the African land
> surface has laterite in the subsoil, and thus chunks of "ochre" are 
> very common
> surface finds.
>
> Copper minerals seem to appear very much later. The earliest piece 
> that I know
> of is probably a bit from Shanidar cave, Iran, dated in the 9th 
> millenium BC.
> This was originally reported as native copper that had been completely
> corroded, but sceptics say that it's just a bit of malachite.
>
> Dave Killick
>
> Quoting "Torbert, Barton" <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> Which brings up the question of what is the earliest site that shows the
>> collection of any minerals. I would think even if not used for
>> anything in particular, people would bring home shiny specimens they
>> stumbled across.
>>
>> Bart
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Jack Ogden
>> Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 3:27 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask] 
>> Subject: Re: Earliest gold
>>
>> As far as I am aware the earliest gold is indeed that from such late
>> Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites as Varna, Bulgaria and the Nahal Qanah
>> Cave, Israel. In fact it is a mystery why there are no nice shiny
>> nuggets in earlier deposits - you would think that their presence in
>> river beds would have attracted people of all periods.
>>
>> If there are established earlier finds I would love to hear about them.
>>
>> Jack
>>
>> Dr Jack Ogden
>> Chief Executive
>> The Gemmological Association
>> +44 20 7404 3334
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> [log in to unmask] 
>> Sent: 19 November 2006 18:27
>> To: [log in to unmask] 
>> Subject: Earliest gold
>>
>> I read a review in last Friday's New York Times (November 17th) of a
>> major
>> exhibit opening at the American Museum of Natural History on gold in all
>> its
>> aspects - geological occurrence, technology, art, coins, modern
>> industrial and
>> scientific uses. It sounds like a great show, but the review contained
>> one line
>> that I found surprising. The reviewer wrote about the hunter-gatherers
>> first
>> recovering gold around 20,000 years ago. I can't determine from Arizona
>> whether
>> this is a claim actually made in the exhibit, or a reviewer's fancy. Can
>> anyone
>> enlighten me? If it's in the exhibit, what's the evidence? The earliest
>> evidence of gold that I know of in the Old World is in the Balkans about
>> 7000
>> years ago (Varna and contemporary sites); in the New World the earliest
>> evidence is from the Andes, about 2000 BC.
>>
>> Dave Killick
>