1300 BC: Spain's copper mine linked to 11 Scandinavian bronze objects, hinting at ancient networks

Representative Image (AI-generated) A mine in south-western Spain is offering new clues about how copper travelled across Bronze Age Europe, potentially linking miners in the Iberian Peninsula with communities in Scandinavia thousands of kilometres away. Around 1300 BC, people were extracting copper ore at Las Minillas, using stone tools to work deposits deep underground. Centuries later, bronze objects found in Scandinavia would preserve chemical signatures consistent with the metals produced at this Spanish site, offering evidence of connections that may have crossed much of Europe.A study published on October 26, 2026, in the archaeological journal Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press, examines the mining evidence and compares the site's ores and metal remains with more than 300 Late Bronze Age bronze objects from Scandinavia. Researchers identified 11 objects whose chemical composition and lead isotope ratios were consistent with Las Minillas. The findings suggest that southern Iberia may have played a more important role in Europe's prehistoric copper supply than previously recognised, although the precise routes and mechanisms of exchange remain uncertain.A majo...