A chemical study of ancient iron objects from Greece has identified a group of rings that were probably made from metal originating in meteorites. The findings suggest that meteoritic iron may have been used not only as an unusual raw material, but also as prestigious jewellery during the Bronze Age.
Astrophysicist and geochemist Matthieu Gounel of France’s National Museum of Natural History and archaeologist Eleni Mantsurani of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens examined 91 iron artefacts from 33 archaeological sites. The objects are held in 19 museum collections and date from the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, with most of the rings dating between the 18th and 14th centuries BC.
The researchers used portable X-ray fluorescence, a non-destructive method for examining chemical composition. They focused on nickel, which is commonly present in iron meteorites and can occur alongside kamacite, an iron-nickel alloy formed within asteroids and other planetary bodies.
Thirteen of the examined objects—全部 rings or fragments of rings—contained elevated nickel levels. Nine were considered most likely to have been made from meteoritic iron, while a tenth was also judged highly probable. A meteoritic origin remains possible for three other rings, although the researchers say additional evidence would be needed.
The objects’ archaeological contexts point to their potential social importance. Nearly all of the high-nickel examples came from wealthy tholos and chamber tombs at major Mycenaean sites, including Mycenae, Dendra, Vathyo and Kakovatos. Another ring was reportedly found at the Minoan sanctuary of Anemospilia on Crete, on the finger of a man interpreted by archaeologists as a high-ranking priest.
Some rings combined iron with gold, silver or bronze, and some may have served as seals as well as ornaments. Two from a Dendra tomb were reportedly placed inside a gold vessel decorated with an octopus. These settings led the researchers to suggest that meteoritic iron could have symbolized authority, wealth or status.
The source of the metal remains uncertain. Egypt has been proposed as one possible source because its dry deserts preserve and expose meteorites more readily than Greece, and Bronze Age connections linked Egypt with the Aegean. However, there is no direct evidence that the Greek rings used Egyptian meteorites.
The tradition appears to have declined around the 12th and 11th centuries BC, as the Mycenaean palace system collapsed and terrestrial iron production became more widespread. Researchers cannot yet determine whether changing political conditions, improved ironworking, or both caused meteoritic iron jewellery to lose its exclusivity.
