Since it was first discovered in 1836 in Great Namaqualand, Namibia, Africa, more than 25 tons of Gibeon meteorites have been recovered and although export and sale was banned by the Namibian government, it is still one of the most commonly available meteorites on the market today. The Gibeon meteorites come from broken asteroid fragments or an exploded star and radiometric dating places the age at around 4 billion years old.
Gibeon meteorites are composed of iron, nickel and small amounts of cobalt and classified as a fine octahedrite iron meteorite. Some other minerals that may be found in the meteorite are chromite, deabreelite, enstatite, kamacite, taenite, troilite or tridymite.
Lines and patterns are the result of cooling in outer space over billions of years and etching slices with dilute nitric acid allow these patterns known as "Widmanstatten lines" to be more visible.
Until recent years, most Gibeon meteorites that were recovered weighed between 200 and 1100 pounds. One of the largest masses ever found weighed over 1400 pounds. Probably due to better metal detection equipment, many smaller specimens have been recovered recently.
When a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, friction raises the surface temperature above its melting point. As the meteorite descends, it slows down, and the heat from friction decreases resulting in a thin layer of dark glass. The surface on some meteorite's may develop shallow pits during the entry process and these pits resemble thumb prints and are known as regmaglypts. Imagine bread dough that has been kneaded which leaves finger imprints in the dough ball.
Gibeon Meteorite Folklore, Legend & Healing Properties:
Kalahari Desert tribesmen picked up meteorites that lay on the ground's surface and made arrowheads and assagai-heads, a javelin type weapon made of long, thin pointed iron rods with sharp edges.
Meteoric iron is used for alignment and balancing; it symbolizes the aptitude and strength required for endurance. Nickel is thought to purify the blood and increase the body's iron content.
Polished fragment showing "Widmanstatten lines".
Meteorite specimen exhibiting regmaglypts.
Gibeon Meteorite Jewelry and Cabochons
Men's ring. A selection of free form cabochons available for custom designed jewelry.