Loading, please wait...
LOT 2295
Natural History - Chinese Nantan Meteorite
FELL 1516 A.D., FOUND 1958 A.D.
7/8 in. (3.58 grams, 22 mm).
An amorphous nickel iron Nantan meteorite (1AB), cleaned. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFound Nantan, Nandan County, Guangzi Region, China.
Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.
See Graham, Bevan and Hutchison ed., Catalogue of Meteorites, Natural History Museum, 1985, p.253, for details of this fall.
FootnotesThe Nantan meteorite fell in 1516, as recorded in ancient Chinese texts; the fall exploded during descent which resulted in a shower of many individual iron meteorites over an area some 28km x 8km in Nantan County, Guangxi, China. Classified as an iron meteorite; 111CD Course Octohedrite, the composition is approximately 92% iron, 6% nickel and contains more than ten other minerals including kamacite, taenite, dominate, plessite, schreibersite, triolite, graphite and others. In 2000, pieces of the Nantan meteorite were incorporated into an art installation for The Bull Ring Shopping Centre in Birmingham, England. Today, a plaque commemorates the occasion.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
-
Natural History - Elrathia Fossil Trilobite Group
Cambrian Period, 541-485 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Comprising three irregular grey stone matrices, each containing an Elrathia kingii trilobite. 159 grams total, 46-79 mm
Ex Lincolnshire, UK, collection. -
Natural History - Fossil Diplomystus Fish
Eocene Period, 58-36 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Diplomystus sp. on a large rectangular matrix. 724 grams, 21.1 cm
From The Green River Formation, Wyoming, USA. Ex Lincolnshire, UK, collection.
In southwest Wyoming (and parts of Colorado and Utah) in the Green River Formation are found some of the world's most outstanding specimens of fossil fish. The Green River system was composed of three lakes: Lake Ulinta, Lake Gosiute and Fossil Lake. These Eocene lakes lay in a series of intermountain basins formed by geological events that uplifted the Rocky Mountains during the early Tertiary time. The climate was much different from the desert-like climate of this area today. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and some subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees) indicate a climate much like that found along the Gulf Coast today. Large amounts of ash found in the sediments indicate that volcanoes were particularly active at this time. -
Natural History - Woolly Mammoth Bone Bead Necklace String
Devensian Period, 110,000-12,000 years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
Restrung using polished Mammuthus primigenius bone beads. 136 grams, 60 cm long
Private UK collection formed in the 1980s. Property of an East Sussex, UK, teacher.