'Treasure Of Villena' From Bronze Age Was Crafted With 'Extraterrestrial Metal' Say Scientists
Scientists have revealed that a set of bronze age artifacts, often referred to as the 'Treasure of Villena' had metals that are of extraterrestrial origin.
According to a study published in Live Science, parts of the Bronze Age hoard were made from meteoric iron.
Treasure of Villena??
The Treasure of Villena was discovered in Spain in 1963 and comprises of 59 bottles, bowls and pieces of jewelry exquisitely crafted from gold, silver, amber and iron.
When they were discovered in a gravel pit in the province of Alicante, researchers noticed that some of the iron pieces were crafted of "a dark leaden metal. It is shiny in some areas, and covered with a ferrous-looking oxide that is mostly cracked."
Meteoric iron??
New research has revealed that the iron used in two of the artifacts originated from a meteorite that fell to Earth around 1 million years ago.
Researchers came to the conclusion of the extraterrestrial origin of the metal after they tested two of the iron pieces: a C-shaped bracelet and a hollow sphere topped with a gold sheet that may have once decorated a sword's pommel.?
How scientists identified origins of the iron
The researchers used mass spectrometry, a technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of molecules and found that the iron-nickel alloy was comparable to that found in meteoric iron.
Given that the compositions of the artifacts are very similar, "both objects could [have] come from the same meteorite," Ignacio Montero Ruiz, a researcher at Spain's Institute of History, told Live Science.
The findings were first published in December in the journal Trabajos de Prehistoria.
"The connection between gold and iron is important, as both elements have a great symbolic and social value," Montero Ruiz said.
While researchers remain unsure of who crafted the objects and where they originated, they do know that these are both the first and oldest meteoritic iron objects found in the Iberian Peninsula, according to the study.
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