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====Role in Society====
[[File:Reconstructed Sumerian headgear necklaces British museum.JPG|thumbnail|left|250px|Figure 4. The gold headdress of Queen/Priestess Puabi. Gold, by the 3rd millennium BC, had become associated with royalty and the religious elite of society in Mesopotamia and Egypt.]]
In the cases where gold was found at relatively early dates, several characteristics are evident. For one, gold is often found in funerary contexts, suggesting it was both a status symbol in life and something to be taken to the next life. Interestingly, in many of the finds from the Old and New World indicate that gold, despite its rarity, was from its onset a way to display power in the afterlife and as a way to remind others of the power and prestige of the individual to members of society after they had passed away. <ref>Boyle, Robert W. 1987. ''Gold History and Genesis of Deposits''. Boston, MA: Springer US. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1969-6.</ref>
Perhaps this reflects the next life or afterlife similarly is characterized by social stratification. As social hierarchy developed in ancient societies, which seems to be true both in the New and Old Worlds, gold was common among societies that differentiated individuals in power and prestige. So in addition to being evident in the finds from Bulgaria and southern Levant, it is also evident in Egypt, Peru, and Mesopotamia, showing the diversity of cultures where this trait develops.
Nevertheless, there are key differences with how gold was treated in early societies. In the ancient Near East, gold was often found as jewelry with women, suggesting women often wore gold as representing family wealth or were often the ones who literally wore the family's wealth. <ref> For further information on women in the ancient Near East society and wealth, see: Chavalas, Mark W., ed. 2012. ''Women in the Ancient Near East: A Sourcebook. Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World''. London: Routledge.</ref>
One can consider gold and women's jewelry as a repository of family wealth. This could also be one reason why we find female burials often having large quantities of gold, as not only did they literally carry the gold but the family wealth is best shown off utilizing the female members. For example, the burial of the Queen or Priestess of Puabi from the ancient city of Ur is one example of this (Figure 4).
