Ancient statue found from Nazis is made from meteorite
A statue that was recovered by Germans in 1938 from Tibet was carved from an extremely valuable and rare meteorite.
The statue, which is thought to represent the god Vaisravana and has a swastika on its stomach, is 1000 years old and 24cm tall, weighing 10kg. The ‘Iron man' was discovered by Ernst Schafer, whose expedition was supported by the Nazis. It then went into a private collection and disappeared from view until 2007 when the owner sought advice about its origins from Dr Elmar Buchner.
Researchers believe it is from the Chinga meteorite that fell around 15,000 years ago. Dr Buchner said, "We were quite astonished by the results." The meteorite is rich in nickel and cobalt; analysis showed it was an ataxite class. This type of meteorite is rare, making up just 0.1% of all meteorites and not often found on earth.
