Campo del Cielo Meteorite
Campo del Cielo Meteorite
"Moon defends himself with a spear tipped with a head carved of the soft wood of the bottletree, which breaks apart at the first impact. He also has a club made of the same wood which is too light to cause any harm. The Jaguar tears at his body, pieces of which fall on the earth. These are the meteors, which three times have caused a world fire." ~ Oral myth of Toba cosmology as recorded by Alfred Métraux, 1946.
Thousands of years ago, a massive metal meteorite broke up over the skies of northern Argentina and rocketed to the ground. The impact was witnessed by local indigenous groups, many of whom lost their lives in the forest fires that followed. The story was recorded in their oral histories as a cosmic event, a tale that described the power of the stars.
This specimen is a complete Campo Del Cielo meteorite from Argentina. The IAB meteorite is thought to have fallen in 2500 BCE and was a source of valuable metals as well as an inspiration for creation myths. The impact area was originally called Piguem Nonralta by the locals, though Spanish colonists renamed it in 1576 CE as Campo del Cielo, or, "Field of Heaven."
📸 A sample Campo del Cielo Specimen
A Historical Meteorite
The Campo del Cielo meteorite is an IAB meteorite that is thought to have formed 4.5 billion years ago during the creation of our solar system. With a total recovered weight at 220,562 lbs (100,000 kg) it is possibly the heaviest meteorite to have ever been recovered on Earth.
The meteorite broke apart in the atmosphere and fell in the Chaco and Santiago del Estero Provinces of northwest Argentina. Radiocarbon dating of charred trees near the crater field placed the impact at around 2500 BCE. The oral history of indigenous groups informs us that the fall from the sky was witnessed and ignited massive forest fires.
This specimen is a complete Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina. The specimen is housed in an acrylic jar that is encased within a glass-topped riker display box. The box measures 4 1/2" x 3 1/2". A small information card is also included, which serves as the certificate of authenticity.
Please Note: The specimens vary in size and shape. The average weight is roughly 0.5g. and the product images above are representative samples.
MORE ABOUT CAMPO DEL DIELO
📸 Campo del Cielo Specimens
A unique meteorite
With a recovered mass of 150 metric tons and boasting the largest documented strewnfield, Campo Del Cielo is an utterly unique meteorite.
The meteorite is an IAB-MG, meaning it is a part of the main group of non-magmatic iron meteorites. Although this group is far from rare, Campo Del Cielo is unique in that it has high levels of iridium, an element that does not occur naturally on the Earth’s surface and thus allows for easy identification.
📸 A large showcase chunk of Campo in hand
An ancient Impact
Campo del Cielo is often referred to as a single meteorite, but in reality it is a broad term defining a meteorite field in the Santiago del Estero and Chaco provinces of northern Argentina. It is thought that the meteorite broke apart within the Earth’s atmosphere, with chunks spread across 20 mi² (55.5 km²). There are numerous large craters here, the largest being 377 by 299 ft (115 by 91 m), with radiocarbon dating of charred tree stumps placing the date of the impact at roughly 2500 BCE.
The descent and impact of the meteor was witnessed by local indigenous groups of the time and became an important part of their oral history. Stories from numerous tribes describe a cosmic event causing a worldwide fire that took many lives. This correlates with charred wood found around the site which suggests the meteorite may have ignited a forest fire upon impact.
📸 A map with the Campo Del Cielo strewnfield in Northern Argentina. (Barrientos, G., Masse, W.B. The Archaeology of Cosmic Impact: Lessons from Two Mid-Holocene Argentine Case Studies. J Archaeol Method Theory 21, 134–211 (2014).)
The area was given the name Piguem Nonralta, first appearing in written history in 1576 CE, when Spanish colonists attempted to seek out the area. The governor of the provinces of Tucumán, Gonzalo de Abreu y Figueroa, believed the local legends spoke of a source of valuable metals which the indigenous peoples had used for weaponry. Translated into Spanish, the area became known as Campo del Cielo, meaning "Field of Heaven."
The 1576 expedition found the area and assumed it was an iron mine, the site going ignored until the late 1770s when a new expedition proposed that the iron field was the product of a volcanic eruption. It would not be until 1933 that the scientific community finally recognized the site as being formed by meteorite impacts, a fact the locals had known for millennia.
Front of the Specimen Card
Back of the Specimen Card
Further Reading
Barrientos, G., Masse, W.B. “The Archaeology of Cosmic Impact: Lessons from Two Mid-Holocene Argentine Case Studies.” J Archaeol Method Theory, vol. 21, 2014, pp. 134–211.
Cassidy, W. A., Renard, M. L. “Discovering research value in the Campo del Cielo, Argentina, meteorite craters.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 31, no. 4, 1996, pp. 433-448.
Métraux, Alfred, 1902-1963. Myths of the Toba And Pilagá Indians of the Gran Chaco. Philadelphia: American Folklore Society, 1946.
Wasson JT. Campo del Cielo: A Campo by any other name. Meteoritics & planetary science. 2019;54(2):280-289. doi:10.1111/maps.13205
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