Exceptional Muonionalusta Meteorite – Polished and Etched Slice

Exceptional Muonionalusta Meteorite – Polished and Etched Slice
Iron-Nickel, Fine Octahedrite, Type IVA
Kiruna, Sweden
Possibly the oldest meteorite known to man, Muonionalusta impacted a site west of the border between Sweden and Finland, north of the Arctic Circle, approximately one million years ago. Lappland, the traditional home of the Sami people, is a remote pine forested land with large herds of reindeer, rivers and lakes, carved out by gigantic glaciers which covered this region as late as 11,000 years ago. In 1906, the first Muonionalusta meteorite was discovered by a child who, while kicking rocks, struck a heavy, rusty object, which was later identified as meteoritic. Weighing over twenty-two pounds, the present Muonionalusta specimen is a thick, large slice displaying several interesting troilite inclusions. Polished and etched on both sides, it is exemplary of the very fine Widmanstatten patterns for which Muonionalusta is coveted. Weighing 10,018 grams; Measuring 13 x 13 x ¾in