It is believed that the Iron Age began in Anatolia and the Caucasus about 1.2 thousand years BC, but scientists know the iron artifacts of various cultures made two millennia before. Similar items are quite rare. Scientists found out that they could be made from meteorites that fell to Earth.
“We collected the available data and conducted a chemical analysis of the samples,” say researchers from the Spanish University
Cote d’Azur and the University of Sorbonne.
Scientists investigate several artifacts from the Bronze Age: iron beads from Gerzeh (Egypt, 3200 BC), a suspension from Umm el-Marra (Syria, 2300 BC) and an ax from Ugarit (Syria, 1400 BC), as well as a number of items of the Shang Dynasty (China, 1400 BC), an ax, a bracelet and a headrest of Tutankhamun (Egypt, 1350 BC).
The conducted study showed that all artifacts were made of iron of meteoric origin. Most of the meteorites from which the objects were made contained nickel and cobalt in addition to a large amount of iron.
