One of the most significant and enigmatic Bronze Age discoveries appear to have incorporate meteoritic branding iron . The uncovering could resolve confusion about the ages not only of the Fe items , but the hoard of gold with which they were buried .
The Treasure of Villena was discovered in what is now easterly Spain in 1963 . The 59 watch bracelet , bowls , and assorted items are most notable for their riches ofgold , but the more intriguing aspect is the iron from which two of the items were made . These were the erstwhile iron pieces find on the Iberian Peninsula , and base on the accompanying riches appear to date to at least 3,000 year ago . The descent of the entire Treasure is mysterious enough , give the lack of evidence of the civilisation that made them , and the presence of apparentlyBronze Ageitems with the branding iron pieces deepened the secret .
However , long before world learned to mine and smelt atomic number 26 , we were using branding iron from meteorites found on the Earth ’s surface . Most famously , Tutankhamunhad a daggerforged from meteoritic branding iron , its possession by the boy Pharaoh of Egypt shew the immense note value place on such items . The capacity to crop the admixture of branding iron , nickel , and sometimes cobalt known as meteoritic branding iron must have uprise independently in many places , since pre - Iron Age examples are found in North America , southern Africa , and Tibet , as well as the Middle East .
The gold covering makes this item look a little like the rest of the treasure, but when it was made the iron peaking through might have been more valuable. Maximum diameter 4.5 cm (1.8 inches).Image credit: Photography Villena Museum (Alicante); Rovira-Llorens et al, Trabajos de Prehistoria 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
One iron piece is a empty hemisphere partially cover in atomic number 79 ( referred to as a cap or pommel ) and the other a watchstrap . Their purpose is unknown , but at face time value their being indicate the gem must date from theIron Age , albeit the very start when ironwork was new enough to be very valuable . Yet if so , what are they doing with so much amber in the Bronze Age stylus ?
However , if the iron from which the two pieces are made is from the heavens , not the Earth , there would be no discrepancy .
Inevitably archaeologists have been keen to try the iron pieces for a long time . However , the compounding of corrosion draw most ancient iron very frail , and the desire to protect the particular from negative test methods , has been an blockage . increase availableness ofnon - destructive testshas changed the situation , leading retired museum curator Salvador Rovira - Llorens and co - authors to search the part ' composition .
To our eyes the open bracelet looks worthless compared to the rest, but what a journey it has been on. Maximum diameter 8.5 cm (3.4 inches).Image credit: Photography Villena Museum (Alicante); Rovira-Llorens et al, Trabajos de Prehistoria 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
Portable decade - ray fluorescence spectroscopic analysis produce changeable results , so the squad call on to mass spectrographic analysis use to tiny samples . They retrieve the ratio of nickel in the roof ( 5.5 percent ) is very much in line with known iron meteorites , and well above what is commonly found interrestrial deposit . On the other hand , preliminary measure of the watchband gave the clearly ambiguous result of 2.8 pct .
Corrosion can do more nickel to leach than branding iron , however , lowering its absorption . Deeper depth psychology uncover more nickel note towards in upcountry area less debunk to air and water , indicating the bracelet was made frommeteoritic ironas well . Indeed , it is probable it was from the same meteorite , with the uncorroded composition being the same . Matching the composition to a specific meteorite has not so far been possible , however .
“ The usable data point evoke that the cap and watchstrap from the Treasure of Villena would currently be the first two pieces attributable to meteoritic smoothing iron in the Iberian Peninsula , which is compatible with a Late Bronze chronology , prior to the beginning of the far-flung product of terrestrial atomic number 26 , ” the authors write .
Outside Greenland , almost all mundane iron is in the grade of iron oxide , which Bronze Age people lacked the technology to reduce . Meteorites not only avoid the need for this , but the atomic number 26 atomic number 28 alloys were more resistant to corrosion even once unadulterated iron became available . The immensely rare product was the Earthly equivalent of Valyrian steel in Westeros , give immense economic value by its utmost rareness .
The discipline is publish inTrabajos de Prehistoria .
