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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 10 2017, @11:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the metals-from-heaven dept.

Bronze Age artifacts used meteoric iron

The Iron Age began in Anatolia and the Caucasus around 1200 BCE. But nearly 2,000 years earlier, various cultures were already fashioning objects out of iron. These items were extremely rare and always greatly treasured. Iron ore abounds on the Earth's surface. So what made these artifacts so valuable? Initial research had shown that some were made with iron from meteorites, which led scientists to wonder how many others were. Albert Jambon gathered the available data and conducted his own nondestructive chemical analyses of samples using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. His collection of iron artifacts includes beads from Gerzeh (Egypt, −3200 BCE); a dagger from Alaca Höyük (Turkey, −2500 BCE); a pendant from Umm el-Marra (Syria, −2300 BCE); an axe from Ugarit (Syria, −1400 BCE) and several others from the Shang dynasty civilization (China, −1400 BCE); and the dagger, bracelet, and headrest of Tutankhamen (Egypt, −1350 BCE).

Also at New Atlas and BGR.

Bronze Age iron: Meteoritic or not? A chemical strategy. (DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2017.09.008) (DX)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Sunday December 10 2017, @11:51PM (9 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday December 10 2017, @11:51PM (#608116) Journal

    Let's just leave it at "extra-terrestial", OK?

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Snotnose on Monday December 11 2017, @12:04AM (7 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Monday December 11 2017, @12:04AM (#608120)

    You sound like you don't think our brothers in space didn't send those meteorites into specific places at specific times to help the needy.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday December 11 2017, @12:22AM (6 children)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Monday December 11 2017, @12:22AM (#608125) Journal

      That would be because I do not. If you have been around to see as many religions rise and fall, some rather nastily, as I have, you would come to realize that for any particular phenomenon, there are near infinite possible theoretical explanations, and of those at least one with involve a deity, and one aliens. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJDgj2DLvc0rl0OAsdMKXIKXE4UG-EEwtwrQUUsrV9GEXqM9Nf [gstatic.com]

      Probably more than one of each.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @12:42AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @12:42AM (#608132)

        If you have been around to see as many religions rise and fall, some rather nastily, as I have

        Thank you for your input Goddess Savitri Devi aristarchus

      • (Score: 1) by tftp on Monday December 11 2017, @03:01AM (4 children)

        by tftp (806) on Monday December 11 2017, @03:01AM (#608171) Homepage
        In many religions gods are aliens too.
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 11 2017, @04:36AM (2 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 11 2017, @04:36AM (#608193) Journal
          That's theological efficiency.
          • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday December 11 2017, @06:37AM (1 child)

            by MostCynical (2589) on Monday December 11 2017, @06:37AM (#608212) Journal

            Isn't religious efficiency accepting direct debit?

            --
            "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
            • (Score: 2) by etherscythe on Monday December 11 2017, @03:31PM

              by etherscythe (937) on Monday December 11 2017, @03:31PM (#608287) Journal

              I thought they would have direct deposit these days :D

              --
              "Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
        • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday December 11 2017, @04:34PM

          by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday December 11 2017, @04:34PM (#608312)

          Honestly, that idea makes more sense than the tenets of the religions where gods *aren't* aliens.

          Seriously, which is more believable:
          1) There's a supernatural, non-corporeal being that created the whole universe, it cares about what individual primitive humans are up to, and it sets a bush on fire with magic.
          2) There's some alien beings from another star system with advanced technology, and they use some technology, perhaps an energy weapon (oh, like something we call a "laser" today...) to set a bush on fire to con some primitive goat-herder into believing they're gods and doing something they want.

          Both are extremely far-fetched, but #2 is less so. You don't need magic to set bushes on fire when you have lasers.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @03:02AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 11 2017, @03:02AM (#608172)

    I think he means the ancient black Egyptians from Ethiopia who spread agriculture, iron tools, quantum mechanics, and astrophysics all over the world.

    Oh, wait...