08/15/2025
Archaeologists used X-rays to analyze iron artifacts spanning more than 400 years of American history. Their results show that differences in the purity of iron and the trace elements it contains can be reliably used to identify iron artifacts from different time periods.
Iron artifacts from early Spanish expeditions in North America often look too similar to tell apart, making it difficult to establish the exact routes that were taken.
“A wrought-iron nail from the 1500s looks like a wrought iron nail from the 1600s,” said Florida Museum archaeologist Charles Cobb.
Nails account for more than half of all metal artifacts found in North America. This, of itself, is no small problem, said Lindsay Bloch, a courtesy faculty member at the Florida Museum and principal investigator at Tempered Archaeological Services.
“Archaeologists find lots and lots of rusty nails and other rusty iron objects. We often can’t even tell what they are, so they get weighed, counted and put back in their bag. And usually, no one ever looks at them again,” she said.
The Spanish had more than just nails. They used iron to make axe blades, horseshoes, breastplates, helmets, spokes, spears, knives, guns and more. They even brought along blacksmiths and farriers on their expeditions to repair and repurpose things on the go. But these objects, like nails, are typically indistinguishable through time.
From De Soto’s expedition to Custer’s last stand, read more about iron and archaeology, and how scientists are using technology to learn new things every day!
Story: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/archaeologists-use-x-rays-to-distinguish-iron-from-different-periods-of-americas-colonial-past/
