Discovery and Historical Context
Unearthed in 1963 near the town of Villena in Alicante province, the hoard consists of 66 mostly golden items with a total gold weight of nearly 10 kilograms. This makes it the second-largest Bronze Age gold collection in Europe, surpassed only by the Varna hoard in Bulgaria.
Dated to between 1500 and 1200 BCE, the artifacts showcase the pinnacle of prehistoric jewelry-making on the Iberian Peninsula. The entire collection is housed in the Villena Archaeological Museum and is celebrated as a masterpiece of late Bronze Age craftsmanship.
The Enigmatic Iron Objects
Amid the gleaming gold, two items always stood out due to their dull appearance: an iron bracelet approximately 8.5 cm in diameter and a hollow gold-decorated hemisphere about 4.5 cm across.
The hemisphere is believed to have been part of a scepter or sword hilt — symbols of power and prestige.
The presence of iron seemed out of place, as the Iron Age on the Iberian Peninsula did not begin until around 850 BCE, centuries after the rest of the hoard was created.
VIDEO. Archaeologists Found Treasure with Metal That’s Not from Earth.
Scientific Breakthrough: Extraterrestrial Origin Confirmed
A recent study published in the journal Trabajos de Prehistoria resolved the mystery. Researchers from Spain’s National Archaeological Museum and other institutions were granted permission to take micro-samples from both objects.
Using mass spectrometry, they detected a high nickel content (over 5%) — a hallmark of meteoritic iron. Despite heavy corrosion that altered the surface composition, the results clearly indicate that both artifacts were crafted from metal that fell from space, likely part of a meteorite that impacted Earth millions of years ago.
This makes the bracelet and hemisphere the earliest confirmed meteoritic iron objects on the Iberian Peninsula and among the oldest in Western Europe.
Why This Discovery Matters
The use of meteoritic iron during the Bronze Age highlights the exceptional status of these items. In ancient cultures — from Egypt’s famous meteoritic iron dagger of Tutankhamun to other early societies — material from the sky was often associated with divine or celestial power.
The Treasure of Villena reshapes our understanding of early metallurgy in Europe, proving that extraterrestrial materials were worked far earlier than previously thought. It opens new avenues for research into similar artifacts worldwide and underscores the advanced skills of prehistoric craftsmen.