Ancient gold

G’day; There has been recent mail on the subject of gold found in
ancient artifacts, which contained platinum, and has been taken to
be an example of ancient high technology.

During the gold rush period in NZ, the miners mentioned that in some
alluvial deposits they found some silvery granules among the gold.
This silvery metal has since been found to be platinum. The early
gold-seekers had no idea of what it might be so they tossed it out
of the pan.

However, in the light of this may I suggest that the ancient
artifacts containing platinum may well have been obtained from
similar deposits to some in New Zealand, but resulted in
gold-platinum alloys from which unsuspectingly, the ancients made
their artifacts.

Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua, Nelson NZ