Researchers have established that two objects from the Villena Treasure, discovered in Spain in 1963, contain iron of meteoritic origin. The artifacts were made approximately between 1400 and 1200 BC. This was reported by the publication "Future," according to UNN.
Details
According to available information, the treasure was discovered during excavations near the Spanish city of Villena led by local archaeologist José María Soler. The collection is kept at the Villena Archaeological Museum and is considered one of Europe's most important prehistoric gold hoards. The museum catalog lists 66 objects. Most of them are made of gold; the collection also includes items made of silver, amber, and iron.
Although gold vessels dominate the collection, two dark metal objects puzzled excavators from the day workers pulled them from the ground. The original 1963 field journals describe a heavy lead-colored metal hidden beneath a cracked oxide shell. Researchers date their creation to between 1400 and 1200 BC, clearly indicating the Late Bronze Age. One object forms a thick wrist bracelet, while a hollow sphere, originally wrapped in thin gold foil, likely covered the hilt of a sword or a ceremonial scepter
How the metal's cosmic origin was established
According to available information, six decades after the discovery, former museum conservator Salvador Rovira-Llorens, together with researchers Ignacio Montero Ruiz and Martina Renzi, analyzed the artifacts. To do so, small samples were taken from both objects and examined using mass spectrometry. The analysis revealed an iron-nickel alloy. A high concentration of nickel is characteristic of meteoritic iron, so the researchers concluded that both objects were made from metal of cosmic origin.
At the same time, the results are still considered preliminary. Because of severe surface corrosion, the chemical composition of the metal may have changed. To confirm their conclusions, the scientists plan to conduct additional research.
Future non-invasive tests, including portable X-ray scanning, will help confirm the analysis without damaging the delicate artifacts. If the results are fully confirmed, these objects will become the oldest known meteoritic iron artifacts ever found on the Iberian Peninsula
Why the discovery is important
The artifacts date to the Late Bronze Age—a period when smelting iron from terrestrial ore had not yet become widespread in Western Europe. Therefore, meteoritic iron was a rare material valued on a par with gold and silver.
"Because meteoritic iron fell directly from the sky, early craftspeople treated this rare material as a precious metal, granting it equal status with gold and silver. Similar meteoritic iron artifacts from this era exist throughout the eastern Mediterranean, including the famous ceremonial dagger buried alongside King Tutankhamun. Researchers suspect that the objects from Villena reached Spain from these eastern centers via long-distance trade routes, since there is no evidence that local metalworkers in prehistoric Spain knew how to process meteoritic iron independently," the article states.
eastern Mediterranean, including the famous ceremonial dagger buried alongside King Tutankhamun. Researchers suspect that the objects from Villena reached Spain from these eastern centers via long-distance trade routes, since there is no evidence that local metalworkers in prehistoric Spain knew how to process meteoritic iron independently," the article states.