Phys.org - 8/19/13
These are meteoric iron beads (center), including the tubular lapis lazuli (blue), carnelian (brownish/red), agate, and gold beads that they were originally strung with. Credit: UCL Petrie Museum/Rob Eagle
Researchers have shown that ancient Egyptian iron beads held at the UCL Petrie Museum were hammered from pieces of meteorites, rather than iron ore. The objects, which trace their origins to outer space, also predate the emergence of iron smelting by two millenia.
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