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Gold has caused obsession in men and nations, destroyed some cultures and gave power to others. Gold has a long and complex history. From gold’s first discovery, it has symbolized wealth and guaranteed power. In the Americas, the skill of Pre-Columbian cultures in the making of Gold jewelry was highly advanced long before the arrival of the Spanish. Indian goldsmiths had mastered most of the techniques known by their European contemporaries when the Spanish arrived. They were adept at filigree, granulation, pressing and hammering, inlay and lost-wax methods. The Spanish conquerors melted down most of the gold jewelry that they took from the peoples of this region and most of the remaining gold jewelry examples have come from modern excavations of grave sites. The greatest deposits of gold jewelry from these times were in the Andes and in Columbia. Gold rushes occurred in many of the Western States, the most famous occuring in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. Elsewhere, gold rushes happened in Australia in 1851, South Africa in 1884 and in Canada in 1897.
