Bronze Age mines in Spain reopen a Scandinavian mystery

An archaeological find in Extremadura is helping to rethink how metals moved around Europe during the Bronze Age. Researchers linked to the Maritime Encounters program at the University of Gothenburg identified six previously unregistered mines near Cabeza del Buey, in the province of Badajoz. The fieldwork was carried out between February 9 and 16, in collaboration with the University of Seville and archaeologists from the Provincial Archaeological Museum of

Badajoz. The

documented mines were not all the same. Some were small mining areas, while others showed more complex mining environments. In one of them, a trench of about 70 meters by 3 meters stood out, interpreted as an organized extraction of

ore with copper.

One of the most important facts was the discovery of about 80 axes or stone hammers with grooves. According to the researchers, these tools were used to break up and process the mineral. This indicates that it was not just an occasional harvest, but a mining activity with a certain degree of organization

.

The mines contain copper, lead and silver, three metals relevant to Bronze Age economies. Copper was essential for making bronze when combined with tin, while lead and silver also had economic and technological importance. The presence of these materials makes it possible to link the discovery with old production and exchange networks

.

The importance of the discovery increases because previous chemical and isotopic studies on Bronze Age objects in Scandinavia had already suggested that some of these metals may have come from southwestern Spain. A study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science analyzed 33 bronze objects dated between 1600 BC. C. and 700 a. C., and concluded that his compositions did not match local Scandinavian minerals. That research reinforced the idea that the metal used in Sweden was imported

.