Historic artifacts made of meteorites and tektites.

Abstrakt

This article complements the previous publication included in the materials for the 2nd Meteorite Seminar in Olsztyn in 2003 and also in 2004 in Meteoritics & Planetary Science with artifacts about which I did not write then and new discoveries. In recent time, archaeologists have discovered more confirmed artifacts that were made of meteorites. Scientists were puzzled that iron objects were found among the artifacts of the Bronze Age. Initially, it was assumed that these were the beginnings of metallurgy, but after careful research, it turned out that they are cold-forged items and the metal is of cosmic origin. How many more interesting and unusual old artifacts made by human hands from materials obtained from outer space will be discovered. Can there be more such artifacts in museums in Poland? It seems to me that a comprehensive inventory and research action should be carried out to verify this. Finally, as a lawyer, I can add that artifacts made of meteorites are the only meteorites in the world protected by law in one hundred percent, because they are monuments of world material culture.

Introduction

Recently, archaeologists have discovered and described further artifacts made from meta orites. Scientists were wondering that, among other things, items were found – made of iron among the monuments of the Bronze Age. Initially it was assumed that they were evidence of the beginnings of metallurgy, but after thorough eye examinations, it turns out that these are cold-forged objects and the metal is of cosmic origin.

Although iron meteorites have already been recognized as one of the sources of this metal, the scientific community could not determine whether they constitute the majority Or just random iron artifacts in the Bronze Age. How many more will be discovered such interesting and unusual monuments made by human hands from materials -materials of cosmic origin.

Brief historical supplement

It should be emphasized that chronologically, iron, after stone and bronze, was the next raw material from which archaeologists gave the name to a great era of history. This period covers more or less the time from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, or more precisely when, through the mediation of the Hittites and Babylonians, the technology of iron processing and smelting spread throughout the Near East and Egypt, to the times of the early Middle Ages in Europe. Iron slowly came into use in various areas. For a long time it coexisted with bronze. However, it appeared earliest, at the turn of the 4th/3rd millennium, in Egypt and Western Asia in the form of products made of cold-forged iron, mainly of meteoric origin. In Babylon, this metal was used as early as the time of Hammurabi, i.e. from the 1st half of the 18th century BC (Zimny ​​1966).

It should be added here that recent excavations in the Middle Ganges Valley carried out by archaeologists indicate that iron processing in India could have begun as early as 1800 BC. Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila and Lahuradewa in Uttar Pradesh, show iron tools from the period between 1800 B.C. and 1200 BC Scientists concluded that iron smelting was definitely a practice important in India on a larger scale, which suggests that the date of creation of this technology can be placed as early as the 17th century BC. Mysterious iron column fund located in New Delhi in Qutub Minar (read Qutb Minar), famous for its rust-resistant composition of metals used for its construction. The column weighs over three tons and is evidence of the high level of skill of ancient Indian blacksmiths in extracting and processing iron. Many believed that the column had an „unearthly” origin, but thorough research has definitely ruled out this view. Nevertheless, this column is an example of ancient high iron smelting skills. Later metallurgical methods originated in India, which led to the smelting of the so-called Damascus steel (Kotowiecki 2021). No artifacts made from meteorites have been found in India.

According to scientists, the end of Cretan culture (around 1100 BC) was caused by the invasion of warlike Greek Dorians, armed with previously unknown iron weapons. The oldest Egyptian hieroglyphs used the sign min to refer to iron in general, because at first the Egyptians were not aware of the origin of the meteorite fragments they found. However, when they explained their origin, the name was changed to bia-en-pet, which means „metal or something hard from the sky” or otherwise „metal from the sky”, and literally „copper from the sky” (Zimmer 1906). The oldest mention of this type dates back to around 2500 BC. The same meaning is also given to the Assyrian and Babylonian names anbar or parzillu, and among the Sumerians and Chaldeans these are the names: barsa and barzel, and finally among the Hebrews barzel. All these names obviously have the same meaning, „metal from heaven”. The Hittites are considered to be the first iron metallurgists. While the Iron Age flourished in the Near East long ago, the Bronze Age still reigned supreme in Europe for a long time. The oldest, as it issupposes that the meteoritic iron objects found so far on Earth are two groups of tiny beads, in one case 7 pieces, and in the other 2 pieces, constituting a kind of necklace or rosary, found by G.A. Wainwright in Gerzech (Lower Egypt) from the period 5000–3400 BCE. At the time of discovery they were already heavily oxidized, after chemical examination it was found that they contained 92.5% Fe and 7.5% Ni.

Returning to the Hittites, it is worth emphasizing that they also knew meteoritic iron, calling it „black iron” sometimes with the addition of „from the sky”. Iron weapons gave them an advantage in their conquests (Boschke 1969).Also interesting are the iron objects found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, a pharaoh from the 18th dynasty (1350–1342 BC), bandaged together with his mummy.

These are: a dagger with a shiny blade surface resembling today’s steel, a miniature tu – ron headboard, an eye-shaped amulet mounted in a gold bracelet, and finally 16 small tools with thin blades (Jambon 2017). The weight of these blades is approximately 4 grams. These objects were probably used for magical rites or for the ritual of „opening the mouth” of the dead. The headboard weighing 47 grams, as a typically Egyptian object, was probably made in this country, as indicated by, among other things, numerous defects. The metal used to make it differs in color and quality from the previously mentioned ones. This would indicate that at that time attempts to make products from iron obtained from smelting ores were probably already being made. However, it can be assumed that the dagger and other iron artefacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb were made from meteoritic iron. In his article, J. Zimny ​​presented a map with the sites of meteorite gel products in the ancient East. In addition to the known sites, unknown to me finds were marked in Knossos in Crete, Hóyuk in Anatolia, Ugarit in Syria and Tell el Obeid in the vicinity of Ur (Zimny ​​1966).

In the oldest layers of Phaistos in Crete, a lump of unworked iron was found. Other, early iron finds from Crete are mainly meteoritic iron, which was discovered in Tholos near Platanos (ca. 2000 BC) and in a cave near Mavro Spelio (ca.1800 BC). In the steppe areas of the Kalmyk ASSR, in the Bychkin-Buluk forest range near the city of Elista near the sources of the Sal River, a tributary of the Lower Don, an iron spearhead was found in barrow No. 6, in a tomb dated to 1750–1500 BC. A sample taken from it, subjected to chemical analysis, showed 3.65% nickel. According to J. Gurb (1966): „Nickel in the tested sample, together with other smaller impurities, is evidence that the spearhead was made from a meteorite, and not from iron obtained by smelting from ore. The spearhead from Byczkin-Bułuk is therefore the oldest iron object in Europe, made additionally from a meteorite.

It is not clear, however, what „smaller impurities” the author mentioned. The result of 3.65% nickel seems too low for meteoritic iron. All the more so because E. Cohen believes that some irons of terrestrial origin sometimes contain up to 4% nickel (Cohen 1953). Moreover, it should be remembered that the amount of nickel in meteoritic material, as I. Fjesjenkow states, can be significantly reduced in the event of melting and then rapid cooling and hardening of this material, as evidenced by laboratory experiments (for more on history, see Kotowiecki 2003).

Currently, only a few dozen artefacts made of meteoritic iron have been found worldwide. Their number has not been verified, because for many exhibits museums do not consent to specialist tests.

Native iron and prehistoric objects found in Greenland

The only large accumulation of native iron known on Earth to date, which could have been accidentally encountered by prehistoric man, is the native iron from Disco Island on the west coast of Greenland, containing up to 4% nickel. The largest specimens of this iron there weigh up to 20 tons. While we are on the subject of Greenland, it should be emphasized that the metallurgist Vagn Fabritius Buchwald (2001) published extensive publications on the ancient production of iron by the Inuit and Norse settlers in Greenland. In this way he expanded our knowledge of the sources of available iron, the extent of metal use and the influence of these cultural groups on each other. He presented a method of distinguishing between meteoritic iron from the Cape York meteorite shower in northwestern Greenland and telluric iron from the iron-rich local basalts at Disco Bay in western Greenland, as well as smelted or worked iron of European origin. As Buchwald emphasized, „at that time one could only speculate as to where the enigmatic wrought iron might have come from.” Buchwald and Wivel (1998) subsequently developed a slag analysis technique for describing and identifying smelted iron. Buchwald applied this method to the study of 76 iron objects from Greenlandic archaeological strata associated with Norse, Inuit, and European settlers. By analyzing the chemical composition of both slag inclusions in iron artifacts and slag wastes and comparing them with iron objects from known Scandinavian contexts, Buchwald provides archaeometallurgists with an invaluable means of identifying methods of smelted iron production. It also provides geological data, including the source of iron ore and even the stages of its production. The work presents a detailed metallurgical analysis of 54 melted pieces of iron and slag, 20 fragments of meteorites and two elements made of meteoritic iron. It should be noted that of all the described artefacts, many tool elements are made by the Inuit from meteoritic iron (Buchwald 2001). These artefacts can be admired in the Museum in Copenhagen. Two knives recovered in 1818 by Captain Ross in Melville Bay from the Inuit are in the British Museum in London under catalogue numbers 87561 and 87562 (Buchwald 1992).

The Cape York meteorite, also known as the Innaanganeq meteorite, is one of the largest known iron meteorites, classified as a medium octahedrite from chemical group IIIAB. In addition to many small fragments, at least eight large ones were found, with a total mass of 58 tons. The meteorite is named after the place where the largest fragment was found: 37 km east of Cape York, in Savissivik on Meteor Island in Greenland (Grady 2000). The date of the meteorite’s fall is a matter of debate, but it probably occurred within the last few thousand years. It has been known for centuries to the Inuit, who used it as a source of iron for making tools. The first foreigner to reach the meteorite with the help of Inuit guides was Robert Peary in 1894. Large specimens can be seen at the American Museum of Natural History and the Geological Museum of the University of Copenhagen (Grady 2000).

Chinese Artifacts

The Freer Gallery in Washington has a magnificent collection of ancient Chinese art. The oldest objects include a ceremonial axe and a dagger. The bronze axe head has a blade composed largely of iron oxides, and the bronze dagger blade shows some oxidized iron residue. Both specimens date from the Chou dynasty, that is, from the 10th to the 8th century BCE, and so were made before iron was first made in Honan Province (where they were found). This led to the assumption that the iron from which they were made could be meteoritic. Roy Clark Jr. of the Smithsonian Institutions’ meteoritics department performed X-ray mineralogical, chemical, and spectrographic studies that detected nickel in the oxidized parts of both specimens, as well as the absence of any components that could not be reconciled with meteoritic origin. In addition, optical studies detected taenite and kamacite in the axe, and kamacite in the dagger. These results were also confirmed by microprobe chemical analysis. The data indicate that meteoritic iron was used to make the above objects (Rutherford et al. 1971).

Meteoritic Buddha from Tibet

In 2012, a sensation was the publication describing an ancient Buddhist statue analyzed by a team of scientists, which was first found by an expedition in 1938. The statue, probably 1,000 years old, called „Iron Man”, weighing 10 kilograms, depicts the Buddhist god Vaishravana and is believed to originate from the pre-Buddhist Bon culture of the 11th century. Geochemical analyses by a German-Austrian research team revealed that the priceless statue was carved from ataxite, a very rare class of iron meteorite. The first team leader to investigate the origin of the statue was Dr. Elmar Buchner from the University of Stuttgart. “The statue was carved from an iron meteorite, a fragment of the Chinga meteorite, which struck the border area between Mongolia and Siberia about 15,000 years ago. Dr. Buchner stated:

“Although the first fragments were discovered in 1913 by gold prospectors, we believe that this single meteorite fragment was found many centuries earlier” (Buchner et al. 2012).

Discoveries in the USA

In the USA, meteoritic iron combined with copper in ornaments or as meteorite fragments have been found at ten sites in Ohio, two sites in Illinois, and one each in west-central Georgia, the Crystal River, and Murphy Island, Florida. These artefacts are linked by the Hopewell culture in Ohio, which dates to between 200 and 400 CE. J. Putnam (Carr & Sears 1985) found in ancient graves in the Littie Miami Valley (Ohio)

ornamental objects covered with meteoritic iron or made entirely of it. He also found fragments of this iron, completely or partially forged into bars for later making ornaments or tools. It is not known exactly what period these graves date from, the British Museum catalogue calls them prehistoric.

In 1945, in the barrowsThe Hopewell culture found two dozen metal beads in the shape of tubes in Havana, Illinois. The Smithsonian Institution currently has two beads in its National Meteorite Collection. Just as it is unclear how the Hopewells acquired these objects from afar, so too is it unclear how they acquired iron meteorites to make beads from. They may have sent travelers to collect such objects, or the iron fragments may have reached them through a trade network (Carr & Sears, 1985). It may also have been a chance find.

McCoy believes that the Havana beads have something to do with rivers. Havana is located on the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi, 500 miles downstream from where the Anoka meteorites were found. “In the original analysis, no one really considered the river connection as a trade route between archaeological sites,” McCoy emphasizes. “With a site this small, I find it hard to believe that anyone would start an expedition from Havana to go up the river and find an iron meteorite. I think there was a trade network” (Donahue 2017). By striking a heated piece of meteorite with a granite rock fragment, Tim McCoy was able to create a coiled tube-shaped bead similar to dozens of those found in 2,000-year-old archaeological sites in Illinois and Ohio. In addition, chemical analyses using energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry of meteoritic iron artifacts from Tunacunnhee and Mandeville, Georgia, are presented. The data are shown to be consistent with the proposed differential nature of the interactions. They also suggest cold hammering of individual specimens, which did not erase the original heterogeneity of the material, as well as certain methodological difficulties in analyzing weathered, rust-covered samples (Donahue 2017).

Artifacts from tektites It turns out that the subject of artefacts also concerns mysterious tektites.

When it comes to this cosmic material, a very interesting artifact discovered on November 4, 1922 in the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter (Donahue 2019) is a necklace, which has a beautiful specimen of Libyan Desert Enamel in its central point. On the other hand, at mineral markets you can find old tektite „beads” for necklaces and tools in the form of sharp knives or scrapers from the Libyan Desert Glaze.

Summary

It is worth mentioning at the end that in the long history of meteorite knowledge, they were the property of temples, rulers, shamans, magicians, charlatans and fraudsters. They were the subject of religious beliefs, a punishment or a gift from God, a magical or medical remedy. In ancient history, we have many examples of meteorites being the property of temples, as well as examples of their collection and worship as gifts from the gods. I wrote about this in the article „Sacred Meteorites”. Even several coins in ancient Rome were specially minted to commemorate events related to meteorites (Kotowiecki 2003).

In Polish lands, the first tools and weapons made of iron appeared during the Lusatian culture, and they were mainly imported products. Several artefacts made of meteoritic iron have been discovered in Poland. I wrote extensively about these relics in an article prepared for the 2nd Meteoritic Seminar in Olsztyn in 2003, and also published in 2004 in Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

There are certainly still many more artifacts left by our ancestors to be discovered. Could there be more such extraordinary relics made from meteorites in Polish museums? It seems to me that in order to verify this, a comprehensive inventory and research campaign would be necessary. Finally, as a lawyer, I can add that relics made from meteorites are the only meteorites in the world protected by law, and one hundred percent. They are unique because of the material used to make them and because of that considered to be extremely important monuments for world material culture.

Literature:

1. Boschke F.L., 1969, Z Kosmosu na Ziemię, wyd. PWN.
2. Buchwald V.F., 2001, Ancient Iron and Slags in Greenland, Meddelelser om Grünland, Man & Society, 26, 92 pages.
3. Buchner E., Schmieder M., Kurat G., Brandstätter F., Kramar U., Ntaflos T., Kröchert J., 2012, Buddha from space: An ancient object of art made of a Chinga iron meteorite fragment, Meteoritics & Planetary Science. doi: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01409.x
4. Carr C., Sears D.W.G., 1985, Toward an analysis of the exchange of meteoritic iron in Middle Woodland, Southeastern Archaeology, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 79–92 (14 pages), published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
5. Grady M.M., 2000, Catalogue of Meteorites, The Natural History Museum, University Press, London.
6. Gurba J., 1966, Znalezisko przedmiotu wykonanego z meteorytu żelaznego, Z Otchłani Wieków, XXXII, z. 1, s. 72–73.
7. Jambon A., 2017, Bronze Age Iron: Meteoritic or not? A Chemical Strategy, Journal of Archaeological Science. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2017.09.008
8. Kotowiecki A., 2003, Polskie zabytki wykonane z żelaza meteorytowego, Materiały, II Seminarium Meteorytowe, Olsztyn, s. 55–64.
9. Kotowiecki A., 2003, Święte meteoryty, Meteoryt nr 3, s. 26–28.
10. Kotowiecki A., 2004, Artifacts in Polish collections made of meteoritic iron, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 39, nr 8, supp. s. A151–A156.
11. Rutherford J., Clarke, Roy S., Chase W.T., 1971, Two early Chinese bronze weapons with meteoritic iron blades, Occasional Papers, vol 4, nr 1, Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
12. Zimmer G.F., 1906, The Use of Meteoric Iron by Primitive Man, Jurnal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 94, s. 306–349.
13. Zimny J., 1966, Halsztackie wyroby z żelaza meteorytowego z Częstochowy Rakowa [ok. 700–550 r. p.n.e.], Z otchłani wieków, XXXII, z. 1.
14. Donahue M.Z., 2017, Ancient Native American beads traced to otherworldy source: an iron Meteorite, https://insider.si.edu/2017/05/ancient-native-american-beads-traced-otherworldy-source- meteorite/  (access 2.04.2021).
15. Donahue M.Z., 2019, New ‘curses’ emerge from Tut’s history-making tomb study. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/tut-tomb-discovery-solves-mystery -new – questions-curse (access 2.04.2021).
16. Kotowiecki A., 2021, Tajemnicza żelazna kolumna w New Delhi, Pressmania.pl. http://pressmania.pl/tajemnicza-zelazna-kolumna-w-new-delhi/  (access 2.04.2021).

This article was first Publish – A.Kotowiecki  – Zabytkowe artefakty wykonane z meteorytów i tektytów – (Historic artifacts made of meteorites and tektites), Acta Soc. Metheor. Polon., 12, 2021, s. 73-80. https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1830275

Additional sources:

1. Kotowiecki A., More and more discoveries of meteorites – monuments of material art., http://pressmania.pl/more-and-more-discoveries-of-meteorites-monuments-of-material-art/
2. Kotowiecki A., Grot strzały wykonany z żelaza meteorytowego odkryty w muzeum w Szwajcarii, http://pressmania.pl/grot-strzaly-wykonany-z-zelaza-meteorytowego-odkryty-w-muzeum-w-szwajcarii/
3. Kotowiecki A., Meteorytowy miecz Simóna Bolívara, http://pressmania.pl/meteorytowy-miecz-simona-bolivara/
4. Kotowiecki A., James Sowerby i szabla wykonana z żelaza meteorytowego, http://pressmania.pl/james-sowerby-i-szabla-wykonana-z-zelaza-meteorytowego/
5. Kotowiecki A., Coraz więcej odkryć meteorytów – zabytków sztuki materialnej, http://pressmania.pl/coraz-wiecej-odkryc-meteorytow-zabytkow-sztuki-materialnej/
6. Kotowiecki A., Niezwykła czaszka wykonana z meteorytu, http://pressmania.pl/niezwykla-czaszka-wykonana-z-meteorytu/
7. Kotowiecki A., Tajemnica sztyletu Tutenchamona wykonanego z meteorytu wyjaśniona, http://pressmania.pl/tajemnica-sztyletu-tutenchamona-wykonanego-z-meteorytu-wyjasniona/
8. Kotowiecki A., „Meteorytowa” podkowa ze wsi Jastrzębia k/Lanckorony, http://pressmania.pl/meteorytowa-podkowa-ze-wsi-jastrzebia-k-lanckorony/

I recommend the film (in Polish on Facebook) of the Częstochowa Museum about discovered bracelets made of meteoritic iron, to which I also contributed over 20 years ago by conducting my private investigation. https://fb.watch/cXl8Akq105/

I also described the investigation here – Kotowiecki A., 2004, Artifacts in Polish collections made of meteoritic iron, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 39, nr 8, supp. s. A151–A156. – https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/655887/15009-17345-1-PB.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

My book on this type of monuments is in preparation.

About the author: 

Andrzej Kotowiecki – Born in Wadowice in 1954. A lawyer by education, studies at the Jagiellonian University, a prosecutor by profession, a passionate historian, archaeologist, geologist, paleontologist, religious expert, collector and traveler. Founding member of the Polish Meteorite Society.