The magnificent treasure from Bronze Age Spain.
Their worth and special mystique has been recognized since ancient days.
These serendipitous falls were likely how mankinddiscoveredand learned to work iron.
The magnificent treasure from Bronze Age Spain. (Photo: © Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)
In 1963, gravel excavations turned up a gold bracelet in Villena, Spain.
Archeologist Jose Maria Soler Garcia soon uncovered a hoard of gold items contained in a vessel.
The treasure comprised an impressive 66 pieces in gold and silver.
The bottom left item, a composite sphere, is one of the items with meteorite traces. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 2.5 ES DEED)
They include intricate bracelets, bowls, and other artifactssome of which are more mysterious.
One item may be the pommel of a sword.
It features a spherical design with a star-like pattern and a metal pin.
The Treasure of Villena on display, (Photo:Wikimedia Commons,CC BY 2.0 DEED)
This object is interest for its material as well.
It is iron sheathed in gold.
Meanwhile, among the gold bangles is one of iron too.
These items are something of a puzzle.
The hoard dates to the Bronze Age about 3,000 years ago.
At the time, iron smelting would likely not have reached Spain as atechnology.
So how did these items come to be?
As it turns out, they are likely from the iron within a meteorite.
A recentstudyused testing methods to check nickel levels in the iron.
Finding them elevated, this indicates an extraterrestrial origin.
Mass spectrometry was also used to check for elements such as cobalt which can provide a similar space signature.
The bottom left item, a composite sphere, is one of the items with meteorite traces.
