Archaeologists have discovered that two artifacts from a massive trove of Bronze Age treasures in Spain were made from meteoritic iron. The finding suggests that metalworking techniques in the Iberian Peninsula were more advanced than previously thought.
The Treasure of Villena, a collection of mostly gold objects unearthed in 1963, included a small, hollow hemisphere and a bracelet that looked like they were made of iron. This was a puzzle because the Iron Age in the region didn't begin until much later.
Further analysis revealed that unlike iron ore from Earth, the artifacts had a much higher nickel content, a telltale sign of meteoritic iron. This suggests the objects were made around the same time as the other treasures, between 1400 and 1200 BCE.
"The available data suggest 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," the researchers explain in their paper, "which is compatible with a Late Bronze chronology, prior to the beginning of the widespread production of terrestrial iron."
Due to the severe corrosion of the objects, the current results are inconclusive. However, the team suggests that applying more recent, non-invasive techniques could provide a more detailed set of data, helping to confirm the findings.
The discovery rewrites our understanding of metalworking in the region and highlights the value people placed on meteorite iron during the Bronze Age. While the findings are not yet conclusive due to corrosion of the artifacts, researchers hope to use new techniques to confirm their analysis.
