27 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Swiss Scientists Identify Arrowhead Made from a Meteoritic Iron

In a recent study of archaeological collections in the Lake Biel region in Switzerland, an arrowhead from the Bronze Age, which is currently housed in the Bern History Museum, has been revealed to be made from IAB meteoritic iron.

With a very specific goal in mind, a team of scientists recently completed a study of prehistoric metal artifacts collected in Switzerland over the previous couple of centuries. They were trying to determine if any of these ancient artifacts were possibly made of metal that had been recovered from meteorites that have been striking Earth for billions of years. To their great joy, the Swiss researchers were able to pinpoint one such artifact: a tiny, rusted Bronze Age iron arrowhead with a chemical and mineral makeup that was unquestionably extraterrestrial in origin.

The team of Swiss researchers focused their search on pre-Iron Age artifacts recovered from various locations nearby the Lake of Biel region of Switzerland, under the direction of geologist Beda Hofmann from the National History Museum of Bern.

The arrowhead was found during a 19th-century excavation of a stilt house settlement at Mörigen in the canton of Bern. The site was discovered in 1843 after water levels in Lake Biel dropped. The settlement dates from around 900 to 800 BC and was inhabited by people from the Urnfield culture, a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe.

Unfortunately, amateur excavations took place, resulting in some artifacts being removed from their original positions and ending up in private collections. To preserve the site, the Bernese government intervened in 1873, prohibiting private excavations and conducting a thorough survey led by Edward Jenner and Edmund Fellberg. The team found evidence of buildings, bridges, and various Bronze Age artifacts across the settlement.

a–b: X-ray tomographic sections of the Mörigen arrowhead. Photo: Journal of Archaeological Science
a–b: X-ray tomographic sections of the Mörigen arrowhead. Photo: Journal of Archaeological Science

The heavily rusted arrowhead was tiny, measuring just 1.5 inches (39.3 millimeters) in length and only one-tenth of an ounce (2.9 grams) in weight.

In a study published in the journal Science Directs, researchers employed several analytical techniques including gamma spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence, and Muon Induced X-ray Emission (MIXE) analysis to examine the arrowhead.

The arrowhead was made largely from iron and nickel, in a mixture consistent with a meteoric origin. Also, analyses showed that the arrowhead contained a radioactive isotope called Aluminium-26 (26Al), which is only found naturally in extraterrestrial objects. The latter particle does not occur naturally on Earth, because it can only form in the zero-gravity vacuum of space.

The scientists had discovered what they hoped and expected to find. But they determined that the metal used to make the arrowhead had traveled a longer distance to reach prehistoric Switzerland than they’d initially suspected.

The chemical composition of the arrowhead suggests that its material came from the Kaalijarv meteorite, which had fragmented around 1,500 BC in Estonia. This Estonian site is located in Northern Europe on the coast of the Baltic Sea, nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the Bronze Age settlement at Mörigen.

Researchers have suggested that an iron meteorite trade network may have existed in Central Europe as early as 800 BC as a result of this discovery. They suggest that these meteorites, which came from the Baltic region, may have been traded along the same routes as amber.

Cover Photo: Journal of Archaeological Science

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105827

Related Articles

3,000-Year-Old Twisted Gold Torc Discovered in Essex, southeast England

16 July 2023

16 July 2023

A metal detectorist has discovered a 3,000-year-old part of a twisted gold torc in a field near Mistley, on the...

2500 Years of Animal Love in Termessos Ancient City

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

We are witnessing more and more of the unscrupulousness, cruelty and torture inflicted on our animal friends every day.These news...

Archaeologists Unearthed Third Greatest Fire Temple Existing in Ancient Iran’s Sassanid Era

11 July 2022

11 July 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed ruins of what they believe to be the third-greatest fire temple in ancient Iran during the Sassanid...

Iron Age Ingenuity: Unique Dacian Stonemasons’ Tools Discovered in Romania

10 May 2025

10 May 2025

An extraordinary discovery in a Romanian forest near the hill of Măgura Călanului has unveiled a unique set of 15...

Burial of Ascetic Monk in Chains Reveals Surprising Identity: A Woman in Byzantine Jerusalem

15 February 2025

15 February 2025

A recent archaeological discovery near Jerusalem has challenged long-held beliefs about ascetic practices in the Byzantine era, revealing the remains...

3,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings Discovered in Itatiaia National Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

13 April 2025

13 April 2025

In a stunning revelation, a dedicated team of researchers from the National Museum, in collaboration with the Federal University of...

Turkey’s second ancient lighthouse found in the Bathonea

28 July 2023

28 July 2023

The excavations in the ancient Greek city of Bathonea, located in the Küçükçekmece Lake basin in the Avcılar district of...

Turkey discovers 11 new major hills near famed Gobeklitepe “Potbelly Hill”

28 June 2021

28 June 2021

Turkey reported on Sunday the discovery of 11 new hills in the vicinity of the renowned ancient site of Gobeklitepe...

The Kyrgyz epic ‘Manas’ manuscripts were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World

10 June 2023

10 June 2023

Manuscripts of the Kyrgyz epic “Manas” by narrator Sagymbay Orozbakov have been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World...

Norse Runic Text found in Oslo could be Prayer!

30 December 2021

30 December 2021

Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Studies (NIKU) have unearthed two objects inscribed in Norse runic text in...

The exciting discovery of a 4000-year-old stone box grave in western Norway

10 November 2023

10 November 2023

Archaeologists report an extremely important 4,000-year-old stone box grave has been unearthed in Western Norway, describing it as the most...

At Göbeklitepe, believed to be the earliest known Mesolithic temple complex, grinding stones were discovered

26 October 2022

26 October 2022

A recent discovery at Göbeklitepe, the oldest known Mesolithic temple complex, has revealed grinding stones, new finds expected to shed...

New mosaics unearthed in “Zeugma of the Black Sea”

3 October 2022

3 October 2022

New mosaics with various figures were unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis, which is called...

New evidence for the use of lions during executions in Roman Britain

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an elaborate key as proof that wild animals were employed as execution vehicles in public arena events...

Rare medieval bone flute unearthed in Kent, southeastern coast of England

22 November 2022

22 November 2022

Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology have unearthed a rare medieval bone flute during excavations in Herne Bay, located in Kent, southeastern...