Treasure of Villena

Short description: Archaeological treasure trove found in 1963

Treasure of Villena as a whole.

The Treasure of Villena (Spanish: Tesoro de Villena) is one of the greatest hoard finds of gold of the European Bronze Age. It comprises 59 objects made of gold, silver, iron and amber with a total weight of almost 10 kilograms, 9 of them of 23.5 karat gold. This makes it the most important find of prehistoric gold in the Iberian Peninsula and second in Europe, just behind that from the Royal Graves in Mycenae, Greece.[1] At least some of the iron artifacts were made of meteoric iron.[2][3]

The gold pieces include eleven bowls, three bottles and 28 bracelets.

The iron pieces are the oldest found in the Iberian Peninsula and correspond to a stage in which iron was considered to be a precious metal, and so was hoarded. Archaeologists estimate the date of this trove at c. 1300-1000 BCE, within the Late Argar, Post-Argar or Bronze of Levante period.[4]

The hoard was found in December 1963 by archaeologist José María Soler, approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Villena, and since then has been the main attraction of Villena's Archaeological Museum. The objects had been carefully placed inside a Bronze Age vessel, similar to those found at the nearby site of Cabezo Redondo 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) away. The vessel was buried in the Rambla del Panadero, a dry riverbed, and some items were recovered loose in the gravel or several meters from the vessel, suggesting that parts of the hoard may have been displaced or lost. A monolith has been erected at the site of the discovery.[5]

Its discovery was published in most of the Spanish media and also some abroad, mainly in France, Germany and the United States of America. It has been exhibited in Madrid, Alicante, Tokyo and Kyoto, and now there are two sets of copies of the whole treasure to be shown in exhibitions while the originals are permanently conserved in an armoured showcase at Villena's Archaeological Museum.

The same type of metalwork is also found in the big Eberswalde Hoard that was discovered in Brandenburg, Germany, in 1913.

## See also

* Casco de Leiro
* Bronze Age Iberia
* Prehistoric art

## References

* SOLER GARCÍA, José María (1967) (in es). El tesoro de Villena: memoria redactada por José María Soler. Alicante: Editado por Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2005. [Madrid]: Otra ed.: [Madrid], Ministerio de Educación Nacional, Servicio Nacional de Excavaciones Arqueológicas, D.L. 196, 75p,[42]p. de lám : il ; 25 cm (Excavaciones arqueológicas en España ; 36). https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/12260390887990416310402/index.htm.
* M.I. Ayuntamiento de Villena, Villena ¡Un tesoro!, Touristic Guide to Villena. referring to the Treasure of Villena. (in English)

1. ↑ [Spanish] Culture and Education Ministry (26 February 2003). "RESOLUCIÓN de 7 de enero de 2003, de la Dirección General de Patrimonio Artístico de la Consejería de Cultura y Educación, por la que se incoa expediente de declaración de bien de interés cultural a favor de la colección arqueológica del Tesoro de Villena." (in es). Boletín Oficial del Estado (Madrid: Spanish Government) (49): 7798–7802. https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2003/02/26/pdfs/A07798-07802.pdf. Retrieved December 6, 2009. "Desde el punto de vista histórico, artístico y arqueológico, el Tesoro de Villena constituye un «unicum», un depósito no normalizado, por su peso y contenido (A. Perea). De hecho, se trata del segundo tesoro de vajilla áurea más importante de Europa, tras el de las Tumbas Reales de Micenas en Grecia (A. Mederos). From a historic, artistic and archaeological point of view, the Treasure of Villena constitutes a "unicum", a non-normalised deposit, according to its weight and content (A. Perea). In fact, it is the second most important golden tableware finding in Europe, after that of the Royal Graves in Mycenae in Greece (A. Mederos)".
2. ↑ Rovira-Llorens, Salvador; Renzi, Martina; Montero Ruiz, Ignacio (2023-12-30). "¿Hierro meteórico en el Tesoro de Villena?". Trabajos de Prehistoria 80 (2): e19. doi:10.3989/tp.2023.12333. ISSN 1988-3218. https://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/view/929.
3. ↑ "3,000-year-old Treasure on the Iberian Peninsula made with material from a meteorite". 7 February 2024. https://arkeonews.net/3000-year-old-treasure-on-the-iberian-peninsula-made-with-material-from-a-meteorite.
4. ↑ Atiénzar, Gabriel; Hernandez, Mauro; Barciela, Virginia (2014). "The Treasures of Villena and Cabezo Redondo". Metals of power – Early gold and silver. Halle State Museum of Prehistory. pp. 593–610. ISBN 9783944507132. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271073909.
5. ↑ Hernández Pérez, Mauro S.; García Atiénzar, Gabriel; Barciela González, Virginia (2014). "The Treasures of Villena and Cabezo Redondo, Alicante, Spain". in Meller, Harald; Risch, Roberto; Pernicka, Ernst (in en). Metals of Power – Early Gold and Silver: 6th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany, October 17–19, 2013 in Halle (Saale). 11/II. Halle (Saale): Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte. pp. 593–606. ISBN 978-3-944507-13-2.

## External links

* Museo Arqueológico José María Soler, where it is exhibited Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist..

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