FIRST EVIDENCE OF LOST‐WAX CASTING IN THE EARLIER BRONZE AGE OF SOUTH‐EASTERN SPAIN: THE SILVER BANGLE FROM EL ARGAR, GRAVE 292

Summary In 1884, one of the burials discovered at El Argar, the eponymous site of the El Argar culture, revealed the remains of a woman wearing an unusual silver bangle. This ornament appears to be the first evidence of a silver object produced by lost‐wax casting in Bronze Age Iberia and, to date, in Western Europe. It demonstrates that El Argar metalworking technology was probably more complex and innovative than previously thought, opening up new perspectives on the organization of metalwork production and the degree of craft specialization in the earlier Bronze Age of south‐eastern Spain.