This is how the treasure of Vilnius was found in 1963/turismovillena
It is common to say that new discoveries by archaeologists and scientists are "out of this world", but in the present case they really are out of this world.
Archaeologists discovered a dazzling treasure from the Bronze Age in Spain more than 60 years ago, but they recently re-analyzed it and discovered that parts of the treasure may be from meteoric iron.
In 1963, archaeologists found an ancient collection - known as the "Vilna Treasure" - which consisted of 59 objects, including 27 bracelets and 11 bowls, made of gold, silver, amber and iron.
The amazing discovery was made in a gravel pit in the Spanish port city of Alicante - although the coastal paradise looks quite different now compared to the 1960s.
The scientists noticed that the pieces of iron looked much different than how they are usually discovered.
The researchers noted back in the 1960's that two objects from the treasure, a C-shaped bracelet and a hollow ball topped with a sheet of gold that may have once decorated the pommel (gable) of a sword, were composed of "a dark lead metal that is shiny in some areas and covered with an oxide that looks like iron that is mostly cracked." .
This theory was the most recent information we had about the findings until recently.
Now, after examining the two strange pieces of iron, scientists have determined that these are "the first objects found in the Iberian Peninsula and made of material that came from outside the Earth."
A new study published in the journal Trabajos de Prehistoria concluded that these two items - which were created between 1400 and 1200 BC - did not come from Earth despite being found in Spain.
Unusually, the source of both objects is a meteorite that landed on Earth about a million years ago.
Ignacio Montero-Ruiz, one of the study's senior authors, told Live Science: "The connection between gold and iron is important, as both elements have great symbolic and social value. In this case, the items were likely a hidden treasure that might have belonged to an entire community rather than an individual. One. There were no kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula in this historical period."
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Although it is unclear who made these objects or their origin, Montero-Ruiz and his team have since confirmed that the pieces are the first and oldest meteoric iron objects found in that area of Spain.
Using mass spectrometry, a technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of molecules, they measured traces of a nickel-iron alloy that were similar to that found in meteoric iron, according to the study.
Given that the compositions of the objects are very similar, "both objects could have come from the same meteorite," Montero Ruiz said.
Montero-Ruiz told El País: "These two pieces of iron were of enormous value. For this reason, they were considered worthy of being part of this spectacular assemblage with many fine gold objects. Who made them and where this material was obtained are still unanswered questions. Possibility One is that they came from the eastern Mediterranean, where other known objects came from. For example, the dagger and other items from the tomb of King Tut Ankh Amun. We have no arguments that support a more local production, because other meteoric iron in Europe has later chronologies (from Poland or Switzerland)."
Indeed, the only known artifacts involving meteoric iron from the first millennium BC include a 900 BC arrowhead found in Morrigan, Switzerland, and some objects from Poland from around 800 BC.
He added that it was "fascinating" to see how cultures worked with new technologies and noted that "experimentation and curiosity were part of these past societies."
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