Meteorite Sky Field, ca. 4000-5000 years old,... Lot 36

Meteorite Sky Field, ca. 4000-5000 years old, Argentina Ferrous-dominated metal agglomerate 18.2 kg Provenance: market (Italy) Conservation status. Surface area: 95%. Conservation status. Support: 95% (consolidation) "Field of Heaven" refers to a group of iron meteorites and the area of Argentina where they were found, straddling the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, located about 1,000 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, and about 500 kilometers southwest of Asunción, Paraguay. The crater field covers a large area, about 18.5x3 square kilometers, and contains at least 26 craters, the largest of which measures 115x91 meters. The craters are estimated to be four to five thousand years old. They became known in Europe in 1576, but were already well known to indigenous peoples. The craters and surrounding areas contain many fragments of a ferrous meteorite. In total, about 100 tons of fragments have been recovered, more than any other meteorite that has impacted our planet. The two largest fragments, the 30.8-ton Gancedo and the 28.8-ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest single-block meteorite masses recovered on Earth.