Ancient Greek rings may have been forged with iron from meteorites

Bronze Age Greek nobles may have sported space bling in their rings.

Chemical analysis of 91 ancient iron weapons and jewelry turned up traces of nickel in about a dozen signet rings — a sign the iron probably came from meteorites, researchers report in the August 2026 Journal of Archaeological Science. The rings were excavated from the ruins of elite tombs, houses and a temple in southern Greece and Crete and the meteoric metal was often layered with gold and silver.

We summarize the week’s scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

“This shows that meteoritic iron was considered a very precious metal used for producing objects of special value…

Read the full article at SCIENCENEWS.ORG