Advanced Plumbing and Metalwork Found on Ancient Greek Island

A coffin of solid gold held King Tut's mummified remains.

This Moche ornament was discovered in a tomb near Sipan. Chiclayo, Peru.

Golden ram headdress ornament from Tillya Tepe.

Gold pendant of hawk with semiprecious stones and coloured glass.

This turquoise-studded buckle bears images from the East, charioteers driving Chinese-style canopied chariots. But the winged griffins pulling the chariots suggest local Bactrian design. It is part of the trove unearthed at Tillya Tepe in Balkh, northern Afghanistan in 1978 by a Soviet-Afghan team.

Familiar yet exotic, the figure of the Greek goddess of love recalls the soft sensuousness of Greco-Roman sculptures. But the wings, never seen on Aphrodite in Greek or Roman art, stem from ancient Bactrian tradition, and the forehead mark is imported from India. Bactrian art in the Dark Period was seldom pure; patrons of the local goldsmiths combined various traditions. This Aphrodite, in the form of a pendant 5x2.6 centimeters high, was found among hundreds of gold spangles lying on the bosom of the young woman in Grave Six who is believed to be a Kushan princess because of her crown.

The Muisca Raft has a base in the shape of a log boat and various figures. The raft was found by three farmers in 1969 in a cave in the village of Lázaro Fonte in a ceramic pot. It is one of the most important archeological pieces ever discovered, uncovereing many insights into pre-Columbian culture.

This gold bird is probably from the pre-Columbian Sinu culture. It's likely a finial object, designed to fit on the end of a staff. Gold objects such as this started the El Dorado legend, contributing to the Spanish conquest and colonisation of much of North and South America. Most pre-Columbian gold working regions of Colombia were in the Andean region. Cartagena, where this object was photographed, was a major port of origin for gold crafts sent to Spain.

An ancient Scythian gold diadem with relief sculpture.

Still shrouded in bits of protective cloth, a gold pendant may once have contained a saintly relic.

This gold object is probably from the pre-Columbian Calima culture, an archeological region on Colombia's Pacific coast. Calima metalwork is extraordinary for its size. Nose rings, breast plates, bracelets, and diadems are made of highly polished, fine quality gold and bordered with geometric or zoomorphic relief designs.

An array of gold objects found in the tomb of a Moche warrior-priest known as the Lord of Sipan. At the top of this vertical image is a gold backflap, designed to shield a warrior's backside. The backflap is crowned with the Moche decapitatory deity. Gold, sphere-shaped bells form a crescent around the decapitator god. Other objects include two turquoise deer earrings, nose ornaments, gold eye pieces, gold peanuts, a gold tumi knife and other gold objects. The gold discs were part of a necklace.