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Pirate Shipwreck Gold Study Reveals West African Trade Was Never “Adulterated”
A 300-Year-Old Shipwreck Challenges a Persistent Myth For centuries, European traders claimed that West African gold was unreliable—deliberately diluted to deceive buyers.A new scientific study suggests those claims were wrong. Analyzing gold recovered from the Whydah Gally—a pirate shipwreck that sank in 1717—researchers found no evidence of systematic adulteration. Instead, the metal’s composition reflects natural…