Finds 2,500-Year-Old Gold Iron Age Necklace by Spanish Water Worker

While working for a nearby water firm, a Spanish guy discovered an old artifact.

Sergio Marciandi found a 2,500-year-old golden necklace, concealed among rocks in Cavandi, Asturias. Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

According to CNN, a 2,500-year-old golden necklace was discovered by Sergio Marciandi in Cavandi, Asturias, hidden among rocks.

Marciandi contacted the archaeologist Pablo Arias, who went to the location and discovered a second necklace that had been broken up into several parts.

“It’s really impressive,” Arias told CNN.

The necklaces most likely originate from the Iron Age, which roughly lasted from 1200 BCE to 600 BCE. The jewelry exhibits small traces of wear that show that someone actually wore it, most likely an important person in society.

“Not everyone could afford one of these necklaces,” Arias told CNN.

According to the archaeologist who spoke to CNN, this discovery was particularly noteworthy because identical objects had previously been discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, before the advent of modern archaeology.

Researchers will have the chance to learn new facts if they make a recent discovery from an intact site.

“We have very precise information about where they were found,” Arias told CNN. “It’s quite exceptional.”

The regional government praised Marciandi's choice to speak with an archaeologist right once and called the discovery "an extraordinary development," according to CNN.

The Asturian Archaeological Museum intends to explore the area more thoroughly.

"A multidisciplinary team will be created, the most advanced in knowledge of the Iron Age, with experts from various national institutions. The best," museum director María Antonia Pedregal Montes said, according to Newsweek.