Metallic gravegoods from Montilla’s treasure (Córdoba, Spain)

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th Century, a new Prehistoric Grave was found while performing agricultural works in Montilla (Córdoba, Spain). The metallic gravegoods (known as the ¿Montilla¿s treasure¿), were bought by a jeweller who sold them to the present Museu d¿Arqueologia de Catalunya ¿ Barcelona. Originally the grave only contained one inhumation, but there are few data on the structure. The gravegoods found inside were one gold diadem, two gold armrings, a copper tanged dagger and four Palmela arrowheads. Some pottery fragments were also mentioned but not described. We present the first detailed study of this set of metallic materials combining their typological description with new XRF composition analyses of the gold and copper items; and a final comparison with previous analyses made by the SAM project (Junghans / Sangmeister / Schröder 1968).