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Gold is first known to have been acquired by ancient human societies in the 4th millennium BC, a time when copper and metals were beginning to be utilized more frequently. The use of gold expanded during this period because pyrotechnologies improved. As pyrotechnologies improved metals such as gold and copper became more flexible. In fact, when gold appears in the New World, it also appears to be associated with the early development of pyrotechnologies, suggesting gold develops early as metallurgy developed. This likely also means gold, and its luster properties, were desired early on by societies able to master pyrotechnologies to extract and create gold artifacts.

One of the oldest known uses of gold appears to be in Bulgaria, from a site that is called Varna Necropolis or Varna Cemetery, which dates to around 4600 BC.<ref>For detailed information about the Varna Necropolis, see: Ivanov, Ivan Simeonov, and Mai︠a︡ Avramova, eds. 2000. ''Varna Necropolis: The Dawn of European Civilization''. Treasures of Bulgaria 1. Sofia: Agatʹo Publ.</ref> The site is a burial ground were a number of gold artifacts were found to be in burial contexts associated with a variety of individuals. Surprisingly, out of the more than 200 graves found, many of them contained gold and other metal finds (primarily copper; Figure 1). This indicates a society that had already developed a strong affinity toward gold and it became a status object for many members of society. However, we also begin to see that not all individuals were treated equally. One individual seemed to have far more gold buried with him, with objects including a gold mace, jewelry, and even a penis sheath made of gold (Figure 2). This could indicate that this society had begun to develop a type of chiefdom society, where one individual did accumulate more power than others and consequently have more gold than the other graves.

In the southern Levant, a cave in the area of Nahal Qanah contained eight artifacts from a burial context that suggests a type of elite burial ground could have been established by the 4th millennium BC. These gold objects were in the form of gold rings. In fact, the find suggests gold could have already become the privy of the most elite in society. <ref>For more information about the Nahal Qanah cave, see: Gopher, Avi, Tseviḳah Tsuḳ, and I. Carmi. 1996. ''The Naḥal Qanah Cave: Earliest Gold in the Southern Levant''. Monograph Series / Tel Aviv University, Sonia and Marco Nadler ''Institute of Archaeology'', no. 12. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section.</ref>