Researchers Identify The Oldest Hippo Ivory Object In The Iberian Peninsula

The object, which was originally excavated in 1977, dates back to the Copper Age — and it's over 4,000 years old.

Researchers have identified the oldest hippopotamus ivory object ever found in the Iberian Peninsula, a 4,000-year-old object that provides new details about long-distance trade networks during Europe’s Copper Age.

The artifact, originally excavated in 1977 from the Copper Age settlement of Bòbila Madurell in Sant Quirze del Vallès near Barcelona, has been re-examined by researchers from the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) at the University of Barcelona . Their findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports .

Though the object has long been held in the Museu d’Història de Sabadell, experts didn’t realize just how significant it