The Treasure of Villena: One of world's most valuable treasures from the European Bronze Age

The Treasure of Villena: One of world’s most valuable treasures from the European Bronze Age

The Villena’s Treasure is the second most important treasure found in Europe, the other being the Royal Graves in Mycenae, Greece.

The hoard was found on the Iberian Peninsula in December 1963 by the Spanish archaeologist José María García Soler in the sands of a dry riverbed called the “Rambla del Panadero”, 5 km from Villena. Since then, it has become the most successful exhibit in Villena’s Archaeological Museum.

*Treasure of Villena in its entirety. Photo Credit*

*It was found inside a Bronze Age vessel. Photo Credit*

The gold pieces include eleven bowls, three bottles and 28 bracelets. Photo Credit — *The gold pieces include eleven bowls, three bottles, and 28 bracelets. Photo Credit*

It comprised of a set of 59 objects made of gold, silver, iron and amber which included 11 bowls, 28 bracelets, 3 bottles and other small pieces (total weight equal to 9,754 kg).

Its discovery was published in most of the Spanish media but also in France, Germany and the United States of America.

There are a total of 28 bracelets with different sizes, weights and decorations. Photo Credit — *There is a total of 28 bracelets with different sizes, weights, and decorations. Photo Credit*

*Bracelet number 29, the most complex part of the whole. Photo Credit*

The eleven golden bowls, one egg-shaped and the other ones hemispherical, were made out of a thin sheet of gold leaf with no signs of welding. The archaeologists estimated that the contents of the hoard date to around 1000 BCE.

*Two jars of gold and silver (items 41, 43 and 42). Photo Credit*

*Supposedly the remains of a scepter or sword. Photo Credit*

There is apparently no information about where the pieces come from, how they ended up in Villena or who made them, so the meaning of the Villena’s Treasure has been the object of intense debate since its finding.

There have been speculations, but there is no set answer.

It has been interpreted in different ways such as a religious offering or a way to symbolically delimit the territory. Photo Credit — *The treasure has been differently interpreted, as a religious offering or a way to symbolically delimit the territory. Photo Credit*

The treasure also included 3 bottles of silver (total weight over 600 gr), 2 iron objects and remains identified as amber. Photo Credit — *The most successful exhibit in Villena’s Archaeological Museum. Photo Credit*

Here is another “treasure” story from us: The Pietroasele Treasure: late 4th century hoard of Gothic gold artifacts discovered in an ancient grave in Romania

The treasure has been displayed at various exhibitions in different places such as Madrid, Alicante, Tokyo, and Kyoto and now there are two sets of copies of the entire treasure to be shown in exhibitions while the originals are permanently conserved in an armored showcase at Villena’s Archaeological Museum.