The ancient Greek legend of Jason and his Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece may have been based on a real expedition to an ancient kingdom on the Black Sea. Geologists have uncovered evidence that a mountainous area of Svaneti in what is now northwest Georgia was the country ‘rich of gold’ described in the legend. They claim that villagers that were part of the wealthy Kingdom of Colchis, which existed from the sixth to the first centuries BC, used sheepskin to capture gold from mountain streams in the area. Among artifacts found in  villages of Svaneti, northwest Georgia was a bronze sculpture of a bird with a ram's head that researchers say lends support that the myth of the golden fleece originated in the area
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Ancient villagers used sheepskins to line stream beds in the Svaneti region of the Southern Caucasus in northwest Georgia
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Gold flakes became ingrained on the fleeces, which scientists believe led to the rise of the myth surrounding the Golden Fleece
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Adventures of Jason and his Argonauts may have been based on a real journey to obtain the secrets of this technique for extracting gold
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Scientists say that modern day Argonauts may even still be able to find Golden Fleeces of their own today as locals continue the tradition
They found that placer gold, where nuggets and flakes sink to the bottom of a stream bed, were extensively exposed throughout the time of the @placeholder.