Discovered at the end of 1963 by José María Soler on the Rambla del Panadero, kept today in the Villena Museum in Alicante, Spain, the Villena Treasure shines as one of the most impressive finds from the Bronze Age (2,200 to 750 BC) in the Iberian Peninsula and perhaps throughout Europe. The curious thing is that recent investigations have revealed that two of its pieces, although corroded, could be the most valuable jewels of the set.
Led by Salvador Rovira-Llorens, former head of conservation at the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, a group of researchers has made a surprising discovery. A bracelet and a hollow semisphere, both adorned with gold and jealously guarded in an armored display case in the museum, turned out to be not made of any terrestrial metal, but of iron from meteorites.
This finding, published in January in the journal Prehistory works, proposes that metallurgical techniques in the Iberian Peninsula more than 3,000 years ago were much more advanced than previously thought.
Scientific debate around the Treasure of Villena
The debate around the Villena Treasure – made up of 66 objects, including 27 bracelets and 11 bowls, as well as some silver or iron pieces – has been intense, especially due to the exact chronology of these objects within the Bronze Age. And for this group, although its pieces have been intensively studied, a relationship with other similar sites has not been established.
In particular, two objects have captured attention: a small hollow hemisphere, which could be part of a scepter or sword hilt, and a unique torc-shaped bracelet. Both have a ferrous appearance, that is, they appear to be made of iron, which is an enigma, given that the Iron Age, when cast iron began to replace bronze, did not begin until around 850 BC.
However, new research has shed light on this mystery, showing that these pieces were created in the Late Bronze Age (1,400-1,200 BC) with iron of extraterrestrial origin.
How do you know it comes from a meteorite?
Specifically, there is a way to distinguish whether the mineral is of extraterrestrial origin: the iron in meteorites contains an alloy of iron and nickel, with nickel in proportions greater than 5% compared to the iron excavated from the Earth’s soil.
With this in mind, the researchers carried out additional analyzes at the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie laboratory in Germany, using more sensitive techniques that confirmed, despite the high degree of corrosion, the presence of meteoritic iron with a nickel ratio of 5. 5% in the cap. Although the bracelet had a lower proportion, 2.8%, the overall results support the theory of its extraterrestrial origin.
“The available data suggests that the cap and bracelet from the Treasure of Villena would currently be the first two pieces attributable to meteoritic iron in the Iberian Peninsula, which is compatible with a chronology of the Late Bronze Age, prior to the beginning of widespread production. of terrestrial iron,” the researchers explain.
Other examples: Tutankhamun’s meteoritic iron dagger
Outside the Iberian Peninsula, there are numerous pre-Iron Age iron artifacts around the world that were forged from meteorites. Perhaps the most famous is Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s meteoritic iron dagger, but there are other Bronze Age weapons made from this material, reports ScienceAlert.
“These two pieces of iron had enormous value. Therefore, they were considered worthy of being part of this spectacular set with numerous and delicate objects made of gold and very special iron. Who made them and where this material was obtained from are questions that still remain to be answered,” said Ignacio Montero Ruiz, from the CSIC Institute of History, as reported The country in February of this year.
This discovery not only highlights the importance of the Villena Treasure, but also opens new perspectives on the knowledge and technology of ancient civilizations in the Iberian Peninsula. No doubt the mystery of these meteoritic iron objects will continue to fascinate researchers and archeology enthusiasts alike.
Felipe Espinosa Wang with information from Prehistory Works, Science Alert and El País.
