Home Tech This 3,000-year-old gold treasure found in Spain contains jewelry made with metals from ‘beyond planet Earth’, scientists say

This 3,000-year-old gold treasure found in Spain contains jewelry made with metals from ‘beyond planet Earth’, scientists say

0 comments
A gold-plated cap and bracelet continue the extraterrestrial material from a meteor that crashed into Earth a million years ago.

A new analysis of ancient treasures discovered in Spain has revealed that some of the artefacts were made from “alien metals” 3,000 years ago.

Scientists conducted a new analysis of the Villena Treasure, a hoard of 59 gold-plated objects found in 1963, and found two objects that featured meteoric iron.

Meteoric iron is a protoplanetary disk remnant from the early universe found in meteorites made of iron and nickel.

According to the team’s estimates, a gold-plated cap and bracelet contained extraterrestrial material from a meteor that crashed into Earth a million years ago.

A gold-plated cap and bracelet continue the extraterrestrial material from a meteor that crashed into Earth a million years ago.

The study explained that meteorite iron is found in certain types of stony meteorites, composed mainly of silicates, a salt made of silicon and oxygen.

“Since they come from outer space, they are composed of an iron-nickel alloy with a variable nickel composition greater than five percent by weight,” the researchers wrote.

“They also contain other minor and trace chemical elements, with cobalt being one of the most important.”

Using fallen meteorites to create objects was a common practice thousands of years ago, as a similar artifact was found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The Treasure of Villena was discovered in the Iberian Peninsula and reveals a look at the transition from stone to bronze.

However, the treasure probably belonged to an entire community and not to a single royal family.

Approximately 90 percent of the collection is made of 23.5-karat gold and includes eleven bowls, three bottles and 28 bracelets.

The artifacts were discovered by archaeologist José María Soler in December 1963, while he and his team were excavating the bed of a dry river called ‘Rambla del Panadero’, about seven miles from Villena.

The treasures have since been housed in the city’s Museum of Archaeology, allowing for further analysis that uncovered the alien metals.

The team of Spanish and Saudi scientists measured the molecules of each of the pieces, which allowed them to look for traces of iron-nickel alloy.

The researchers found a cap and a bracelet that featured meteoric iron: the former made up 5.5 percent of the material and the latter only 2.8 percent.

The artifacts were discovered by archaeologist José María Soler in December 1963, while he and his team were excavating the bed of a dry river called 'Rambla del Panadero', about seven miles from Villena.

The artifacts were discovered by archaeologist José María Soler in December 1963, while he and his team were excavating the bed of a dry river called ‘Rambla del Panadero’, about seven miles from Villena.

The researchers found a cap and a bracelet that contained meteoric iron: the former had 5.5 percent and the latter only 2.8 percent.

The researchers found a cap and a bracelet that contained meteoric iron: the former had 5.5 percent and the latter only 2.8 percent.

The lead author of the study, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, a researcher at the Institute of History of Spain, said Living science: ‘Iron technology is completely different from metallurgy based on copper and that of noble metals (gold and silver).

“Therefore, people who started working with meteoritic iron and later with terrestrial iron must have (had to) innovate and develop new technologies.”

“However, nickel levels in terrestrial iron are generally low or very low and often not detectable in analyses.”

In 2016, researchers from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Polytechnic of Milan and the University of Pisa announced a dagger, intricately decorated and encased within a golden sheath, with a blade made of iron from a meteorite.

The team used a similar technique to examine the composition of the metal, comparing it to a meteorite called Kharga, which was found in 2000 on the Maras Matruh plateau in Egypt, 150 miles west of Alexandria.

The dagger is considered one of the most notable objects recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb due to the fine metalwork it displays.

It was found inside the sarcophagus of the young pharaoh.

The handle has a finely embossed gold handle with a crystal pommel, while the scabbard was decorated with a floral motif, feather patterns and a jackal’s head.

You may also like