Gerald
09-27-12, 02:17 PM
An ancient Buddhist statue that was recovered by a Nazi expedition in the 1930s was originally carved from a highly valuable meteorite.
Researchers say the 1,000-year-old object with a swastika on its stomach is made from a rare form of iron with a high content of nickel.
They believe it is part of the Chinga meteorite, which crashed about 15,000 years ago.
The findings appear in the Journal, Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
The 24cm (9-inch) tall statue is 10kg (22lb) and is called the Iron Man.
http://imageshack.us/a/img12/7978/63138662buddha1creditel.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/63138662buddha1creditel.jpg/)
The artifact is believed to be made from a meteorite that crahed into the Earth 15,000 years ago.
Origins unknown: The story of this priceless object owes more perhaps to an Indiana Jones film script than sober scientific research.
It was discovered in Tibet in 1938 by German scientist Ernst Schafer. His expedition was supported by the Nazis, in particular by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Himmler was said to believe the Aryan race originated in Tibet and was keen to recover objects from the area. Brought back to Germany, the statue became part of a private collection and disappeared from view until 2007. A new owner then sought scientific advice on the origins. He turned to Dr Elmar Buchner from the University of Stuttgart.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19735959
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291945-5100
Note: 27 September 2012 Last updated at 14:09 GMT
Researchers say the 1,000-year-old object with a swastika on its stomach is made from a rare form of iron with a high content of nickel.
They believe it is part of the Chinga meteorite, which crashed about 15,000 years ago.
The findings appear in the Journal, Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
The 24cm (9-inch) tall statue is 10kg (22lb) and is called the Iron Man.
http://imageshack.us/a/img12/7978/63138662buddha1creditel.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/63138662buddha1creditel.jpg/)
The artifact is believed to be made from a meteorite that crahed into the Earth 15,000 years ago.
Origins unknown: The story of this priceless object owes more perhaps to an Indiana Jones film script than sober scientific research.
It was discovered in Tibet in 1938 by German scientist Ernst Schafer. His expedition was supported by the Nazis, in particular by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS. Himmler was said to believe the Aryan race originated in Tibet and was keen to recover objects from the area. Brought back to Germany, the statue became part of a private collection and disappeared from view until 2007. A new owner then sought scientific advice on the origins. He turned to Dr Elmar Buchner from the University of Stuttgart.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19735959
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291945-5100
Note: 27 September 2012 Last updated at 14:09 GMT