Gold and gems quiz: What do you know about sparkly treasures made by nature?

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Think you know a lot about jewels? Can you make this whole quiz shimmer?

a collection of large gemstone rings on a black background
Humans have made jewelry out of gold and gemstones for thousands of years. (Image credit: kyoshino via Getty Images)

Television and internet ads regularly extol the classic beauty of gold jewelry and dazzling shine of cut gemstones. While we're all familiar with the precious gems — diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds — there are hundreds more semiprecious gemstones, according to the International Gem Society. And sometimes even organic materials that are made into jewelry (like pearls) are considered gemstones.

Many gemstones are crafted into jewelry using gold, a soft, malleable element. Although gold is a relatively rare metal, scientists aren't sure exactly how much of it exists in the world — or how much is left to mine.

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Kristina Killgrove
Kristina Killgrove
Staff writer

Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.

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