Campo del Cielo Meteorite - Riker Glass Display Case

Hold a Campo del Cielo Meteorite From the Field of Heaven

This Campo del Cielo meteorite is a complete piece of iron that fell in Argentina thousands of years ago. It averages roughly 0.5 g. It sits in an acrylic jar inside a glass-topped riker box.

Product Details

• SKU: 80-112-0092-201-36
• Specimen: Complete Campo del Cielo meteorite, an Argentina iron meteorite
• Type: IAB iron meteorite
• Average weight: Roughly 0.5 g, varying in size and shape
• Display: Acrylic jar in glass-topped riker box, 4.5 in x 3.5 in
• Includes: Information card that serves as the certificate of authenticity

A Field of Craters, Not One Stone

Campo del Cielo is a meteorite field in Chaco Province, northwest Argentina. The iron broke apart in the atmosphere and scattered across about 20 square miles. Radiocarbon dating of charred tree stumps places the impact near 2500 BCE.

Single masses of this Argentina iron meteorite weigh tens of tonnes. Any real meteorite specimen from the field is a small piece of that larger fall.

A Fall Remembered by Its Witnesses

Local indigenous groups witnessed the event, and their oral histories describe a cosmic event and a world fire.

The area was called Piguem Nonralta, which became Campo del Cielo, or Field of Heaven. The Spanish recorded it in 1576, when Gonzalo de Abreu y Figueroa sought iron used in native weapons.

From Mine to Meteorite

The 1576 expedition assumed the area was an iron mine. A late 1770s expedition blamed a volcanic eruption. Science recognized the impacts only in 1933, a fact the locals had known for millennia.

The IAB iron meteorite formed with the solar system roughly 4.5 billion years ago. See more space-born pieces in our Natural History Collection.

Display and Care

Iron can rust, so keep this real meteorite specimen away from damp air and direct sun. The card explains the Campo del Cielo meteorite and acts as your certificate.

About IAB Irons

Iron meteorites come from the metal cores of early asteroids. The IAB group is one of the largest families of irons. This Campo del Cielo meteorite is a small, tangible sample of a dismantled world.

For More Reading from the Web

• Trace the impact field, its largest recovered masses, and its long history of human visits. Campo del Cielo - Wikipedia