New Study Further Proves Ancient Egyptian Beads Crafted from Meteorites

Iron beads uncovered in a 5,000-year-old Egyptian grave in Lower Egypt more than a century ago are made not from iron ore but small pieces of meteorites, a new report published in the Journal of Archaeological Science shows.

Led by Thilo Rehren of University of College London, the study used X-ray methods to determine whether the artifacts represented meteoric iron versus magnetite, which boasts similar properties.

The team of researchers avoided any form of invasive analysis by scanning the beads with a beam of neutrons and gamma-rays, revealing a unique texture as well as a high concentration of nickel, cobalt, phosphorous and germanium, characteristic of meteoric iron.

"The really exciting outcome of this research is that we were for the first time able to demonstrate conclusively that there are typical trace elements such as cobalt and germanium present in these beads, at levels that only occur in meteoritic iron," Rehren said in a statement.

The results corroborate the findings of a previous study in which researchers determined that the beads consisted of as much as 30 percent nickel, suggesting celestial origins.

Equally intriguing to the researchers is the skill manifested in the creation of the beads. Carefully hammered into thin sheets before being rolled into tubes, the artifacts predate iron smelting by 2,000 years, making them the earliest known iron artifacts in the world.

"The shape of the beads was obtained by smithing and rolling, most likely involving multiple cycles of hammering, and not by the traditional stone-working techniques such as carving or drilling which were used for the other beads found in the same tomb," Rehren explained.

For this reason, the study stands as evidence that metalworkers as long ago as the fourth millennium BC had developed a method by which to smith meteoric iron, a material far harder and brittle than copper, which was more commonly used.

"We are also excited to be able to see the internal structure of the beads, revealing how they were rolled and hammered into form," Rehren continued. "This is very different technology from the usual stone bead drilling, and shows quite an advanced understanding of how the metal smiths worked this rather difficult material."

These techniques, the study says, would later go on to define the iron age, including the development of iron smelting and the production of iron from iron ore -- a step that ultimately resulted in iron replacing copper and bronze as the main metals used.