Archaeologists documented rare meteoric iron artifacts in Ohio Hopewell burial mounds (1-500 AD), including double-bitted axes, knives, and a bear tooth embedded with the cosmic metal. Olaf Prufer's 1961 research 'Prehistoric Hopewell Meteorite Collecting: Context and Implications' (Ohio Journal of Science) shows this material was naturally malleable and could be worked without smelting. A human ulna with meteoric iron banding was also recovered from Ohio sites.
Ohio Hopewell meteorite iron artifacts documented at Marietta and Circleville
United StatesArtifact
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Meteoric iron objects found in Ohio Hopewell mounds include double-bitted axes, knives, bear tooth embedded with meteoric iron, and human ulna with meteoric iron banding
- Published by Olaf Prufer in 'Ohio Hopewell Meteor Iron Objects' from Marietta and Circleville, Ohio
- The objects could be worked without smelting because meteoric iron is naturally malleable
Sources
[PDF] Prehistoric Hopewell Meteorite Collecting : Context and Implicatiosnkb.osu.edu
Hopewell meteoric iron occurs in the form of "nuggets," i.e., unworked meteorite masses, as well as in the shape of tools and iron-foil overlay on other.
HOPEWELL People used Meteoric Iron - History Forumhistorum.com
"In 1961, Olaf Prufer, an archaeologist with the Case Institute of Technology, published a review of “prehistoric Hopewell meteorite ...
(PDF) The Hopewell airburst event, 1699-1567 years ago (252-383 ...researchgate.net
Although rare among Hopewell horizon artifacts, meteoritic metal represents ... Olaf H. Prufer. Author Institution: Department of Humanities and Social ...
HOPEWELL USE OF METEORITIC IRON - Ohio History Connectionohiohistory.org
The late Olaf Prufer speculated that the Hopewell might have realized that meteorites had fallen from the sky. We may never be able to know for ...
[PDF] toward an analysis of the exchange of meteoritic - iron in the middle ...uark.edu
Prufer, Olaf. 1961 Prehistoric Hopewell Meteorite Collecting: Context and. Implications. Ohio Journal of Science 61341–352. 1962 Prehistoric Hopewell ...
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