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Bronze Age Artifacts Contain Meteoric Iron

Accepted submission by takyon at 2017-12-10 16:40:56
Science

Bronze Age artifacts used meteoric iron [www2.cnrs.fr]

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 [newatlas.com].

Bronze Age iron: Meteoritic or not? A chemical strategy. [sciencedirect.com] (DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2017.09.008) (DX [doi.org])


Original Submission