[meteorite-list] 5,000+ Year Old Egyptian Iron Meteorite Beads

From: Shawn Alan <photophlow_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2014 16:12:29 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <1396566749.81275.YahooMailNeo_at_web120002.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>

Hello Listers

Here is an abstract from an article from MAPS on the Egyptian beads down below.


Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
ebay store
http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633nyc/m.html
Meteoritefalls.com


Analysis of a prehistoric Egyptian iron bead with implications for the use and perception of meteorite iron in ancient Egypt

Authors:
Johnson,?Diane; Tyldesley,?Joyce; Lowe,?Tristan; Withers,?Philip?J.; Grady,?Monica?M.
?
AbstractTube-shaped beads excavated from grave pits at the prehistoric Gerzeh cemetery, approximately 3300 BCE, represent the earliest known use of iron in Egypt. Using a combination of scanning electron microscopy and micro X-ray microcomputer tomography, we show that microstructural and chemical analysis of a Gerzeh iron bead is consistent with a cold-worked iron meteorite. Thin fragments of parallel bands of taenite within a meteoritic Widmanst?tten pattern are present, with structural distortion caused by cold-working. The metal fragments retain their original chemistry of approximately 30 wt% nickel. The bulk of the bead is highly oxidized, with only approximately 2.4% of the total bead volume remaining as metal. Our results show that the first known example of the use of iron in Egypt was produced from a meteorite, its celestial origin having implications for both the perception of meteorite iron by ancient Egyptians and the development of
 metallurgical knowledge in the Nile Valley.
?
link: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013M%26PS...48..997J????
Received on Thu 03 Apr 2014 07:12:29 PM PDT