In the rolling landscapes of Switzerland, a curious artifact languishing in a museum vault has sparked a revelation that intertwines ancient craftsmanship with cosmic wonder. The arrowhead, once a tool for Bronze Age hunters, is now at the heart of a discovery that stretches our understanding of prehistoric trade and the value of celestial objects in our ancestors’ lives.
Over a century after its unearthing, the rusted, seemingly ordinary Bronze Age arrowhead housed at the Bern Historical Museum has revealed its extraordinary extraterrestrial origins, casting new light on the resourcefulness and connectivity of our early forebears.
“It’s been well documented that trade was well established over large distances during the Bronze Age,” said Beda Hofmann, curator at the Natural History Museum of Bern, capturing the essence of the discovery in a statement to Live Science. “These early people likely knew that when the impact happened there in 1500 BCE, the material was precious and had value to it.”
The 2.9-gram tip of history, fashioned between 900 and 800 BCE, was scrutinized using non-destructive testing methods, including electron microscopy and gamma spectrometry. These analyses revealed the presence of aluminum-26 isotopes and an iron-nickel alloy that betrayed its meteoritic nature.
Initially thought to have originated from the nearby Twannberg meteorite, which landed less than 8 kilometers from Mörigen, where the arrowhead was discovered, the artifact’s specific isotopic signature pointed elsewhere. Traces of germanium and nickel steered researchers over 2,250 kilometers away to the impact site of the Kaalijarv meteorite in Estonia.
While Hofmann and his team continue to puzzle over the journey of this cosmic artifact from Estonia to Switzerland, they highlight the value placed on meteoritic iron during an era when the smelting of iron had not yet been discovered. This suggests a discernment and appreciation for unique materials that preceded the onset of the Iron Age by several centuries.
Only 55 such meteoritic arrowheads are known to exist across Eurasia and Africa, with the most famous examples residing in the tomb of Ancient Egyptian boy pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Relevant articles:
– Meteorite made into Bronze Age arrowhead 3,000 years ago, Cosmos Magazine
– This Bronze Age arrowhead was made from materials out of this world, The Jerusalem Post
– A Bronze Age Arrowhead was Made Out of a Meteorite, Universe Today
– Swiss Scientists Discover a Bronze-Age Arrowhead Was Crafted From a Meteorite That Crashed to Earth 3,500 Years Ago, Artnet News