A modern field investigation of the mythical “gold sands” of the ancient Colchis Kingdom and “Golden Fleece” phenomena

According to Greek mythology and historical sources the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Colchis was rich of “gold sands” and the natives mined this metal from the rivers, using special wooden vessels and sheepskins. Modern geological research conducted by us in the Svaneti region (Greater Caucuasus) has shown that this area is the province of the former Colchis Kingdom where it was possible to obtain abundant gold from the mountain rivers using the methods unique to this region. We think, from our investigations, that the bedrock and placer gold contents of this region give grounds to believe that there was enough gold in this region to describe Svaneti as “the country rich of this noble metal”. After comparing the geological data, artifacts, myths and historical sources, we share the viewpoint of the Roman historian Apian Alexandrine (90–170 AD) and suppose that the myth about expedition of Argonauts in quest of the “Golden Fleece” to the Colchis Kingdom was a real event and that the main purpose of this mission was to obtain gold and sheepskin (fleece) technique of gold mining.Though there are a lot of varients of the explanation of the “Golden Fleece” phenomena in historical literature. According to one of the theories the “Golden Fleece“ phenomena as a symbol of Colchian gold, was not confined solely to representations of actual gold mining. Other theorists saw the “Golden Fleece” as a symbol of the wealth of the Colchis, famed since antiquity for the abundance of their precious metals. The phenomena of the “Golden Fleece” according to our research, is connected with the sheepskin technique of recovering placer gold. The end result of this technique of gold recovery river gravels was a gold imprinted sheepskin, giving rise to the romantic and unidentified phenomena of the “Golden Fleece” in the civilized world.