Ancient warriors were using a-steroids to gain an edge in battle.
Aliens might not have built the ancient pyramids — but ancient humans apparently employed alien weaponry: Researchers have discovered that a 3,000-year-old arrowhead found in Switzerland was actually comprised of meteorite, proving that “extraterrestrial weapons” aren’t just relegated to science fiction flicks.
“A single object made of meteoritic iron has been identified,” authors wrote in the study, which is slated to be published in the September edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science.
While tools comprised of space rocks have been discovered before, they are extremely rare. This is only one the third ever meteor-based artifact to be discovered in Central and Western Europe, according to the archeological researchers.
The extraterrestrial projectile, which dated back to the Bronze Age (800-900 BC), was one was of several arrowheads reportedly uncovered by archaeologists in the 19th century the Mörigen archaeological site, situated at the Lake of Biel.
The weapon was subsequently put on display at the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland, where its origins remained unknown until now.
The research team verified the missile’s meteorological makeup — an iron-nickel-aluminum alloy — by examining it via electron-microscopes, X-rays and high-energy radiations.
They then cross-referenced the data with known space rock samples, confirming that it was indeed intergalactic in origin.
Mörigen is famously home to the fragments of the Twannberg meteor — Switzerland’s largest — which scientists suspected provided the raw materials for the arrowhead until a chemical analysis revealed that wasn’t the case.
Instead, based on its chemical composition, scientists postulated that the iron belonged to the Kaalijarv meteorite which fell to earth in modern day Estonia around 1500 B.C.
This had splintered into debris fragments, which were used to fashion weapons of war and other artifacts during the Bronze Age, before the art of iron smelting had been invented.
What better weaponry to use than the rock that may have wiped out the dinosaurs, right? Perhaps it gave them a literal “edge” in the ancient arms race.
In fact, before the advent of the Iron Age, meteoric iron was used by ancient peoples to craft jewelry, weaponry, and figurines in nearly every corner of the world from Greenland to Canada and even China.
However, the latest find is significant as the “space age” arrowhead is only one of the three alien metal items to be discovered central Europe; the other two were bracelets and an ax head found in modern Poland, per the study.
Along with perhaps proving that ancient Europeans had more advanced weaponry than once thought, the Estonian meteor iron’s discovery in Switzerland perhaps supports the existence of a trade route spanning the continent during that epoch.
Inhabitants possibly this network to exchange goods like amber as gemstones, silex stones for tool production and, of course, iron meteorites.
Scientists hope to analyze other archaeological collections to gauge how many artifacts are comprised of the same intergalactic iron.
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