GabyA team of researchers from Spain and Saudi Arabia conducted an analysis of the so-called “Treasures of Villena,” discovered on the Iberian Peninsula in 1963. The valuables had been kept in the municipal archaeological museum for over 60 years. The 3000-year-old collection included 59 artifacts, among them bowls, bottles, and jewelry made of gold, silver, amber, and iron.
What amazed the researchers
Using mass spectrometry, scientists have determined that two objects from the Bronze Age hoard – a hemisphere and a bracelet – contain meteoritic iron. The hemisphere may have been used as a finial. According to researchers, the celestial body from which the material originated collided with Earth a million years ago.
The first item contained 5.5 percent of this material, while the second had 2.8 percent, the publication reported. Daily Mail .
Researchers explained that meteoritic iron (an alloy of iron and nickel) is found in some types of stony meteorites, which are primarily composed of silicates – salts of silicon and oxygen.
“Since this material arrived from space, it is made of an iron-nickel alloy with varying nickel content,” the scientists commented on their discovery. According to them, these objects also contain other minor elements, among which one of the most important is cobalt.
Detected onIberian Peninsula“Treasures”Vilyeni“gave to scientists”possibilityto investigate howpeoplestatemovedofrom stone to bronze.The artifacts were discovered by archaeologist José María.SoleroIn December 1963, when he and his team were excavating the bed of a dried-up river.Rambla del Panaderonear the cityViliena.About 90 percentthere were treasuresyoudonemade of 23.5-karat gold.
According to scientists, the valuable collectionbelongsIt seems that the text you provided is incomplete. Please provide a complete sentence or text for translation.to the community, notoneroyalfamilies.After all, there were no kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula at that time, the team noted.Researchersassumedandthat the treasure collection made its way to the Pyrenees fromMediterranean’I.
The senior author of the study, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, a researcher at the Institute of History of Spain, said: “The technology for working with meteoritic iron was completely different from working with copper and precious metals (gold and silver). Therefore, the people who began working with meteoritic iron and then with terrestrial iron had to innovate and develop new technologies.”
He also added that nickel levels in terrestrial iron are usually low (or very low) and often go undetected in analysis.
Working with extraterrestrial material is a common practice of the ancients. masters
The use of meteorite material in craftsmanship thousands of years ago is not new to science.
In 2016, a team of scientists from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Polytechnic University of Milan, and the University of Pisa studied a dagger from a tomb. Tutankhamun In 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered among other rarities in the pharaoh’s tomb a blade of a highly ornate dagger made of meteoritic iron. To study the composition of the material, researchers used the same technology as the team that analyzed the “Treasures of Villena.” Egyptian scientists compared the dagger’s material with the composition of the Kharga meteorite. This cosmic body was found in 2000 on the Maras-Matruh plateau, 240 kilometers from Alexandria.
The dagger is considered one of the most remarkable items buried with the young pharaoh (Tutankhamun lived only 19 years). The artifact features a gold handle with intricate embossing, precious stones, and a crystal pommel. The gold sheath is adorned with a floral pattern and ornamentation.
