[meteorite-list] artifacts and meteorites

From: Donald Blakeslee <blakesle_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:37:31 2004
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.20001204163250.00728b14_at_twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu>

Hello to all:

I am new to the list and am interested in communicating with those of you
who actively search for meteorites in the field. I am an archaeologist
interested in Native American uses of meteorites and am hoping to find some
new information from some of you.

I have been combing the literature for references to meteorites from
archaeological sites and have found quite a few, but there I keep running
into problems of various sorts. First, most archaeologists wouldn't know a
meteorite if it hit them on the head, so an unknown number that have been
excavated have not been reported as such. For instance, iin the report of
the old excavations at Pecos, there is a brief mention of some small dark
brown rocks that are very heavy for their size. Since they were found with
a few other items that relate to ritual, there is a good possibility that
they are meteorites.

A second problem is with the meteorite literature, and that's where I hope
you can help me. Many of the find spots are described so poorly that it is
impossible to tell whether the meteorite was in association with any
artifacts. The Winona meteorite was found with some charcoal adhering to
its oxidation crust, which might be a clue. The Lost Draw meteorite was
found by an artifact collector, according to the Catalogue of Meteorites.
Seems to me that this is a clue; where else would an artifact collector be
looking than on an archaeological site? Actually, I have a report that two
more meteorite fragments were found on an archaeological site near Lost
Draw, so there may be a strewn field there (West Texas).

So here's my request: Do you know of any meteorites that have been found
fairly recently in spots that also yield artifacts? Or meteorites that
appear to have been modified by people (other than cutting and slicing)?
Also, meteorites found on top of prominent hills (the Pawnees, among
others, put meteorites in such places)? I already have the information in
the 1975 Catalogue of Meteorites and in Buchwalds' volume on iron
meteorites and Nininger's old article on meteorites from archaeological
sites, but I know there are likely to be many more> Can you help?
Received on Mon 04 Dec 2000 05:32:50 PM PST