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Ancient Chinese Artifact Made from Meteoric Iron Discovered at Sanxingdui
A strange iron object buried for more than three millennia at the ritual complex of Sanxingdui has now been confirmed to come from outer space. Researchers in China have identified the elongated, axe-like artifact as meteoritic iron, making it the oldest and first confirmed example of such material in southern China. The study, published in…
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5,300-Year-Old Bow Drill Found in Predynastic Grave Rewrites Early Egyptian Technology Timeline
A small copper object — just 63 millimetres long — has quietly forced archaeologists to rethink the technological abilities of early Egypt. Researchers from Newcastle University and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna have re-examined a century-old artefact from Upper Egypt and identified it as the earliest known rotary metal drill in ancient Egypt, dating…
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India’s Longest Iron Age Spear Unearthed in Tamil Nadu, Pointing to Early Metallurgical Mastery
In the dry soil of southern India, archaeologists have uncovered a weapon that is forcing scholars to reconsider the technological limits of the Iron Age. Excavated from a burial site in Tamil Nadu, a nearly 2.5-meter-long iron spear is now believed to be the longest Iron Age iron spear ever discovered in India—and possibly one…