Researchers have found evidence that suggests warriors in the distant past used asteroids as weapons. The discovery is centred on a 3,000-year-old arrowhead recovered in Switzerland that was made of meteorite material, demonstrating that extraterrestrial weapons were used in antiquity.
Although earlier examples of tools constructed from space pebbles have been discovered, they are still incredibly rare. This meteor based arrowhead is just the third to have been found in Central and Western Europe, according to archaeologists.
Ancient Aliens!
Archaeologists are said to have discovered multiple arrowheads in the Mörigen archaeological site, which is located near the Lake of Biel, in the 19th century, including the alien projectile, which dates to the Bronze Age (800-900 BCE). Although some metallic iron may have been present in meteorite impact fields at the time, the study contends that people had not yet started processing iron from oxide ores.
Despite the fact that meteoritic iron artefacts have been found in Turkey, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and China, only two places in central and western Europe—both in Poland—had previously yielded such artefacts.
Origins and Data
The origins of the weapon were first unknown when it was on display in Switzerland’s Bern history museum. The scientific team confirmed that it was an iron-nickel-aluminum alloy using a variety of cutting-edge techniques, such as electron microscopes, X-rays, and high-energy radiation.
The Bronze Age
Only three meteorites in Europe are known to have a chemical composition identical to this one, however due to the meteorite’s impact at Kaalijarv, Estonia, which “produced many small fragments,” researchers believe this meteorite was most likely the source.
Later, following trade routes, some of these fragments would have travelled southwest to Switzerland. Head of the Earth sciences division at the Natural History Museum of Bern Beda Hofmann is the study’s primary author.
“While most people in the Bronze Age pile-dwelling villages in the Swiss lakes would have devoted their time to agriculture, hunting and fishing, there is evidence — including molds for casting bronze found at Mörigen — that some people had developed specialized skills” she added.
The archaeologists found the Bronze Age artefact at the Mörigen archaeological site near Lake of Biel in the 19th century, together with other arrowheads.
