6,500-Year-Old Gold Bead Found in Bulgaria

PAZARDZHIK, BULGARIA—Archaeologist Yavor Boyadzhiev of the Bulgarian Academy of Science has found a tiny gold bead that he claims could be the world’s oldest gold artifact. Reuters reports that the bead, unearthed in southern Bulgaria, dates to between 4500 and 4600 B.C. “I have no doubt that it is older than the Varna gold,” Boyadzhiev said, referring to jewelry discovered at a Copper Age site near the Black Sea in 1972. He explained that the bead was found in a house at a fortified settlement dating back to 6000 B.C. that he thinks was founded by migrants from Anatolia. More than 150 ceramic bird figurines have also been found at the site, which was destroyed by invaders around 4100 B.C. To read more about archaeology in Bulgaria, go to "Thracian Treasure Chest."