Recent discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea have shed light on the legendary metal orichalcum, referenced in ancient texts, including Plato's accounts of Atlantis. The term orichalcum, derived from Greek, means 'mountain copper' and was described as more precious than gold.
In 2014, a diver located 40 ingots of a metallic alloy off the coast of the ancient Greek city of Gela, modern-day Sicily. Follow-up investigations in 2016 revealed an additional 47 ingots just 10 meters from the initial find. Both caches are believed to belong to the same ship that sank approximately 2,500 years ago.
Analysis of the ingots confirmed they were made of a copper-zinc alloy, suggesting this may indeed be the ancient orichalcum. Furthermore, a 2019 study utilizing scanning electron microscopy indicated that some Roman coins minted after Augustus' reforms contained up to 30% zinc, linking them to the properties of orichalcum.
These findings imply that 'orichalcum' was likely an ancient term for a specific type of brass, a class of alloys primarily composed of copper and zinc.