Archaeologists have uncovered an “extraterrestrial metal” in ancient burials in Poland that is believed to be found only in meteorites.
Four artifacts – three bracelets and a pin containing the rarest pieces of iron – were pulled from two Early Iron Age cemeteries, dating between 750 to 600 BC, in southern Poland.
To find out about the element composition of the artefacts, the group of experts used different techniques, including X-rays to peer inside objects and another that used a beam of electrons to create high-resolution images of objects.
And the results shocked them. The experts observed high concentrations of smelted ore and meteoric iron that appeared to have come from a single space rock.
The discovery was made in Poland’s Częstochowa Museum collection by Polish and French scientists who analysed burial objects from two early Iron Age graveyards, Częstochowa-Raków and Częstochowa-Mirów.
Researchers examined the jewellery in the 1960s, but the artefacts were later reanalyzed by Professor Albert Jambon, a meteorite specialist from Sorbonne University, and Dr Karol Dzięgielewski from Jagiellonian University.
The experts said in the study: “This modest number of specimens nevertheless forms one of the biggest collections of meteoritic iron products at one archaeological site worldwide.”
The high nickel content in the iron indicated that the jewellery was crafted from an ataxite meteorite, known for its mirror-like finish.
The researchers also suggested that the deliberate mixing of iron sources was likely intended to create patterns on the artefacts.
If this hypothesis is confirmed, these pieces would represent the oldest known example of patterned iron.
Fashioning objects from fallen meteorites was a common practice thousands of years ago, as evidenced by a similar artefact discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Meteorite iron is found in specific types of stony meteorites, which are primarily composed of silicates—a compound made of silicon and oxygen.
Dr Jambon added: “We can conclude that there is a high likelihood that there was a witnessed fall rather than a lucky find. 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).”
