This 3,000-year-old gold hoard found in Spain contains jewelry made from metals “from outside planet Earth,” scientists say

A new analysis of ancient treasures discovered in Spain has revealed that some of the artifacts were made from “foreign 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 that two objects contained meteoric iron.

Meteoric iron is a remnant of protoplanetary disks from the early days of the universe, found in iron and nickel meteorites.

The team estimated that a gold-plated cap and bracelet contained the alien material from a meteor that crashed to Earth a million years ago.

The study explained that meteorite iron is found in certain types of stony meteorites, which are primarily composed of silicates – a salt of silicon and oxygen.

“Because they come from space, they consist of an iron-nickel alloy with a variable nickel composition of more than five percent by weight,” the researchers write.

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

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

The Treasure of Villena was discovered in the Iberian Peninsula and provides a glimpse into the time when people switched from stone to bronze.

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

About 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 Maria Soler in December 1963 when he and his team were excavating a dry riverbed called “Rambla del Panadero” – about seven miles from Villena.

The treasures have since been stored in the city’s Archaeological Museum, enabling new analysis that uncovered the alien metals.

The team of Spanish and Saudi Arabian scientists measured the molecules in each of the pieces and were able to search for traces of an iron-nickel alloy.

Researchers found a cap and bracelet that contained meteor iron – the former making up 5.5 percent of the material and the latter just 2.8 percent.

The artifacts were discovered by archaeologist José Maria Soler in December 1963 when he and his team were excavating a dry riverbed called “Rambla del Panadero” – about seven miles from Villena

Researchers found a hat and bracelet that contained meteor iron – the former had 5.5 percent and the latter only 2.8 percent

The study’s lead author, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, a researcher at the Spanish Institute of History, told Live Science: “Iron technology is completely different from copper-based metallurgy and precious metals (gold and silver).

“So, people who started working with meteoritic iron and later terrestrial iron have to [have had to] “Innovate and develop new technologies.”

“However, nickel levels in terrestrial iron are generally low or very low and often undetectable in analysis.”

In 2016, researchers at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Polytechnic of Milan and the University of Pisa announced a dagger that is intricately decorated and encased in a gold scabbard and features a blade made from iron from a meteorite.

Using a similar technique, the team examined the metal’s composition and compared it to a meteorite called Kharga found in 2000 on the Maras-Matruh plateau in Egypt, 150 miles west of Alexandria.

The dagger is considered one of the most outstanding items recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb due to its fine metal workmanship.

It was found in the young pharaoh’s sarcophagus.

The handle features a finely embossed gold hilt with a crystal pommel, while the sheath is decorated with a floral motif, feather patterns and a jackal’s head.