Strange Metal From Beyond Our World Spotted in an Ancient Treasure Stash

A 2024 study found two Treasure of Villena objects—a bracelet and a hollow gold-decorated cap—are likely made from meteoritic iron.

Their nickel-rich composition and analysis point to a date of about 1400–1200 BCE, in the Bronze Age.

The finding shows Iberian artisans used iron from meteorites centuries before widespread smelted iron production.

It revises the technological timeline for Bronze Age metalworking in Spain and the wider Iberian Peninsula.