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I hadn't heard of this Aegospotami meteor before, I wonder what happened to it given that it was apparently intact and "the size of a wagon-load". I had to look

I hadn't heard of this Aegospotami meteor before, I wonder what happened to it given that it was apparently intact and "the size of a wagon-load". I had to look up if that's even possible, but there's one in Namibia that's 60 tonnes and hasn't been moved from where it dropped; it was discovered in 1920. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoba_meteorite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoba_meteorite

hermitcrab 1y ago
I believe some meteorites were used a source of iron, as iron isn't easy to dig out of the ground with primitive tools.
- vincekerrazzi 1y ago
  Indeed, it’s fairly certain that Tutankhamun’s dagger is meteoric in origin. I’ve always found it intensely interesting that “star metal” was sought out for its qualities but rarely replicated until the modern age.
  - adrian_b 1y ago
    The meteoritic iron has never been replicated until modern times because the ancients did not know that its good qualities are caused by its content of nickel and cobalt. Even if they had known that, they would not have known which are the minerals that contain nickel or cobalt, despite the fact that minerals containing cobalt have been used for coloring glass for many millennia. There have been several places, including China, where in ancient times alloys of copper and nickel have been made. Nevertheless, even in those places the smiths did not know that the nickel minerals contain another metal. They knew only that when adding nickel minerals to copper minerals, a better copper is obtained after smelting. This was similar to what the ancient Romans did, who knew very well to make brass, and who used zinc oxide for a lot of things, including in medicine, but who had no idea that brass and zinc oxide contain a distinct metal, zinc. The metals nickel and cobalt have been discovered only during 18th century, at the start of modern chemistry, when people, especially in Sweden, have started to classify all the known chemical substances and minerals and to search for new minerals and substances. In the Sweden of the 18th century there was some kind of classification mania, which has been very useful for mankind, because its result was the start of the modernization of biology, chemistry and mineralogy. Before modern chemistry, the Europeans knew 7 metals in pure form, because the 8th metal, the adamant of the ancient Greeks and Romans had been forgotten (i.e. natural nuggets of Os-Ir alloy), while 2 other metals had been discovered and used by the natives of other parts of the world, i.e. zinc in Asia and platinum in South-America. When not counting the semi-metals As, Sb and Bi (which are fragile, because they do not have a metallic crystal structure, even if they have free electrons), cobalt and nickel have been the first true metals discovered in modern times, after the 9 metals (7 + Zn + Pt) that had been in use for many centuries or millennia.
pavel_lishin 1y ago
I wonder if it was simply covered by up soil, due to erosion. As the article points out, the whole region has had multiple periods of wars - probably very easy to "lose" an entire city, and a meteor that was worshipped nearby. I wonder if anyone's tried to find it.

hermitcrab 1y ago

I believe some meteorites were used a source of iron, as iron isn't easy to dig out of the ground with primitive tools.

vincekerrazzi 1y ago
Indeed, it’s fairly certain that Tutankhamun’s dagger is meteoric in origin. I’ve always found it intensely interesting that “star metal” was sought out for its qualities but rarely replicated until the modern age.
- adrian_b 1y ago
  The meteoritic iron has never been replicated until modern times because the ancients did not know that its good qualities are caused by its content of nickel and cobalt. Even if they had known that, they would not have known which are the minerals that contain nickel or cobalt, despite the fact that minerals containing cobalt have been used for coloring glass for many millennia. There have been several places, including China, where in ancient times alloys of copper and nickel have been made. Nevertheless, even in those places the smiths did not know that the nickel minerals contain another metal. They knew only that when adding nickel minerals to copper minerals, a better copper is obtained after smelting. This was similar to what the ancient Romans did, who knew very well to make brass, and who used zinc oxide for a lot of things, including in medicine, but who had no idea that brass and zinc oxide contain a distinct metal, zinc. The metals nickel and cobalt have been discovered only during 18th century, at the start of modern chemistry, when people, especially in Sweden, have started to classify all the known chemical substances and minerals and to search for new minerals and substances. In the Sweden of the 18th century there was some kind of classification mania, which has been very useful for mankind, because its result was the start of the modernization of biology, chemistry and mineralogy. Before modern chemistry, the Europeans knew 7 metals in pure form, because the 8th metal, the adamant of the ancient Greeks and Romans had been forgotten (i.e. natural nuggets of Os-Ir alloy), while 2 other metals had been discovered and used by the natives of other parts of the world, i.e. zinc in Asia and platinum in South-America. When not counting the semi-metals As, Sb and Bi (which are fragile, because they do not have a metallic crystal structure, even if they have free electrons), cobalt and nickel have been the first true metals discovered in modern times, after the 9 metals (7 + Zn + Pt) that had been in use for many centuries or millennia.

pavel_lishin 1y ago

I wonder if it was simply covered by up soil, due to erosion. As the article points out, the whole region has had multiple periods of wars - probably very easy to "lose" an entire city, and a meteor that was worshipped nearby. I wonder if anyone's tried to find it.