In the 4th millennium BC it required 395 hours of labor, at the ancient Sakdrisi mine (Georgia), to produce a golden earring weighing 9.4 gram. @TuurDemeester @NickSzabo4 @davidwengrow @NLeconandpolicy @jp_koningpic.twitter.com/NKeRui9lQy
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I wouldn’t be claiming to have the final answer even if I were the only expert in the field! This is a collegial business with all of us standing on each other shoulders while pursuing that holy grail of ‘the truth’ :)
They weren't primarily about symbolism, though, otherwise they would have chosen less costly objects that could carry more info. Instead more costly materials were favored -- these were Veblen goods, displays and stores and media for occasional but important transfers of wealth.
