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ARTEFACTS made from extraterrestrial metal have been discovered by archaeologists in two ancient cemeteries in Poland.
Four items of jewellery, three bracelets and a pin, containing a form of iron only found in meteorites were pulled from Early Iron Age burials.
The meteorite jewellery was found amongst a collection of 26 artefacts, including ankle rings, knives and spearheads housed in the Częstochowa Museum[/caption]
The graves, in Częstochowa-Raków and nearby Częstochowa-Mirów, are dated between 750 and 600 BC[/caption]
The graves, in Częstochowa-Raków and nearby Częstochowa-Mirów, are dated between 750 and 600 BC.
Archaeologists used a number of tools, such as X-rays and electron microscopy, to see what the jewellery pieces were made of.
Based on the high nickel levels in the iron, researchers believe the artefacts are made from an ataxite meteorite.
Ataxites are an especially rare form of iron meteorites.
Despite their rarity, researchers believe the randomness of the finds suggests the material was not thought to be particularly valuable at the time.
“There is a high likelihood that there was a witnessed [meteor] fall rather than a lucky find,” Albert Jambon of Sorbonne University, and co-author of the study, told the Phys.org website.
“Iron meteorites may be large (hundreds of kg), but this may actually be a problem.
“Large pieces are not workable, and you need to separate small pieces (less than one kg), which is hardly possible with the tools of the Iron Age (see, e.g., the pieces of iron worked by the Inuits).”
The findings also suggest the ancient inhabitants of Poland were aware of iron processing earlier than first thought.
Researchers found banding patterns on the metal, suggesting they could be the oldest examples of patterned iron in the world.
It significantly predates Damascus steel, which is used in modern knives.
The meteorite jewellery was found amongst a collection of 26 artefacts, including ankle rings, knives and spearheads housed in the Częstochowa Museum.
They were excavated in the 1960s, but were reanalysed by Professor Jambon and Dr Karol Dzięgielewski from Jagiellonian University.
“This modest number of specimens nevertheless forms one of the biggest collection of meteoritic iron products at one archaeological site worldwide,” the pair wrote in the study.
Archaeologists used a number of tools, such as X-rays and electron microscopy, to see what the jewellery pieces were made of[/caption]
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