The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades
Up until now, a few artifacts made of meteoritic iron have been discovered worldwide, though none in Morocco. The number of these objects has rarely been verified, as museums generally do not allow artifacts to be tested, and they are often confused with common smelted objects of the Iron Age. In th...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Heritage |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/5/3/72 |
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| author | Abderrahmane Ibhi Lahcen Ouknine Fouad Khiri Ahmed Ait Touchnt Hassan Nachit Olga De Pascale Giorgio S. Senesi |
| author_facet | Abderrahmane Ibhi Lahcen Ouknine Fouad Khiri Ahmed Ait Touchnt Hassan Nachit Olga De Pascale Giorgio S. Senesi |
| author_sort | Abderrahmane Ibhi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Up until now, a few artifacts made of meteoritic iron have been discovered worldwide, though none in Morocco. The number of these objects has rarely been verified, as museums generally do not allow artifacts to be tested, and they are often confused with common smelted objects of the Iron Age. In this work, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) have been used to analyze three iron dagger blades recovered in two localities near Imilchil and Missour in Morocco. The composition of one blade (7.2 wt% Ni and 1.1 wt% Co) strongly supports its meteoritic origin, whereas it was not so for the other two ones. The results of this work provide the first case of the exploitation of meteoritic iron as a metal source in Morocco. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:52:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6524308828bd4a03ba9ad71bd827e318 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-9408 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:52:36Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage |
| spelling | doaj.art-6524308828bd4a03ba9ad71bd827e3182023-11-23T16:31:49ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082022-06-01531395140010.3390/heritage5030072The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger BladesAbderrahmane Ibhi0Lahcen Ouknine1Fouad Khiri2Ahmed Ait Touchnt3Hassan Nachit4Olga De Pascale5Giorgio S. Senesi6Geoscience and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8106, Agadir 80000, MoroccoGeoscience and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8106, Agadir 80000, MoroccoGeoscience and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8106, Agadir 80000, MoroccoUniversity Meteorites Museum, University Ibn Zohr Complex, Agadir 80000, MoroccoGeoscience and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, B.P. 8106, Agadir 80000, MoroccoCNR, Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi (ISTP), Sede di Bari, Via Amendola 122/D, 70126 Bari, ItalyCNR, Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi (ISTP), Sede di Bari, Via Amendola 122/D, 70126 Bari, ItalyUp until now, a few artifacts made of meteoritic iron have been discovered worldwide, though none in Morocco. The number of these objects has rarely been verified, as museums generally do not allow artifacts to be tested, and they are often confused with common smelted objects of the Iron Age. In this work, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) have been used to analyze three iron dagger blades recovered in two localities near Imilchil and Missour in Morocco. The composition of one blade (7.2 wt% Ni and 1.1 wt% Co) strongly supports its meteoritic origin, whereas it was not so for the other two ones. The results of this work provide the first case of the exploitation of meteoritic iron as a metal source in Morocco.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/5/3/72iron artifactsmeteoritic ironportable X-ray fluorescencescanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy |
| spellingShingle | Abderrahmane Ibhi Lahcen Ouknine Fouad Khiri Ahmed Ait Touchnt Hassan Nachit Olga De Pascale Giorgio S. Senesi The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades Heritage iron artifacts meteoritic iron portable X-ray fluorescence scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy |
| title | The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades |
| title_full | The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades |
| title_fullStr | The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades |
| title_short | The Meteoritic Origin of Morocco Iron Dagger Blades |
| title_sort | meteoritic origin of morocco iron dagger blades |
| topic | iron artifacts meteoritic iron portable X-ray fluorescence scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/5/3/72 |
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