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

[Shawn Alan]

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 Widmanstätten 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