A 2,600-year-old ankle ring containing meteoritic iron.Czstochowa Museum/Archeologia ywa/FacebookThe burial sites of Czstochowa-Rakw and Czstochowa-Mirw in southern Poland are at least 2,600 years old, coinciding with Europes late Bronze Age. Yet they yielded several dozen iron objects, at the time more valuable than gold.Using X-rays and electron microscopy, a new study revealed that three artifacts a bracelet, an ankle ring, and a pin contain an even rarer kind of iron obtained from a meteorite.The chemical composition of the artifacts is quite variable and doesnt fit any specific meteorite. The researchers assume that the meteoritic iron came from a local meteorite fall, and the recovered material was mixed with terrestrial ore.Long before humans were able to smelt iron from natural ores, meteoric iron was used by people as a welcome alternative. Artifacts like ceremonial daggers, figurines or jewelry made of meteoric iron were found in Turkey, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Indonesia, Iran, Canada, Greenland, Russia, China and North Africa. A collection of iron beads found in a 6,000-year-old tomb predates Egypts Iron Age by 2,000 years.In central and western Europe, artifacts made from meteoric iron are very rare. So far only a bracelet and an ax head from Poland were known, and in 2023, a study showed that an arrowhead found over 100 years ago during an archeological dig in Switzerland was made using iron obtained from a prehistoric meteorite fall.The discovery of three artifacts containing meteoric iron in southern Poland is not only the largest stash found in Europe, but the use of two sorts of iron is quite unique. The authors propose two possible explanations. The meteoric iron had a religious value to the people of Czstochowa-Rakw and Czstochowa-Mirw. Maybe somebody observed the meteorite fall and the iron was seen as a gift from the gods. The second explanation involves aesthetic considerations. The nickel-rich meteoric iron has a distinct bright-silvery color not seen in the darker iron obtained from terrestrial rocks. Using two types of iron, the Bronze Age blacksmith created the oldest known example of patterned iron, predating the famous Damascus steel by almost 1,000 years.The study, "Heavenly metal for the commoners: Meteoritic irons from the Early Iron Age cemeteries in Czstochowa (Poland)," was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.