The pieces were collected from early Iron Age cemeteries in southern Poland, dating between 750 and 600 BC. Three bracelets and a pin containing a metallic iron found only in meteorites were discovered.
Researchers used different techniques, including X-rays, to examine the objects and determined that high concentrations of smelted ore and meteoric iron appeared to have come from a single asteroid.
Further study has determined that the jewellery was made using an ataxite meteorite with a mirror-like finish. Mixing the iron sources was likely done on purpose to create patterns on the pieces, which, if accurate, would make these artifacts the oldest known example of patterned iron.
Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the study found that meteoritic iron was present in about 26 ornamental specimens unearthed at an ancient Polish cemetery.
“This modest number of specimens nevertheless forms one of the biggest collections of meteoritic iron products at one archaeological site worldwide,” the study reveals.
“We suggest that the meteoritic iron was deliberately used to produce a specific pattern on iron jewellery – a millennium before the supposed invention of wootz and Damascus steel.”
Fallen meteorites were used to fashion objects and jewellery thousands of years ago, and a similar example is found in Tutankhamun's tomb.
Researchers in Spain made a similar discovery in 2024, concluding that artifacts were made with 'alien metals' 3,000 years ago.
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