The field of the sky
A crater field in Argentina whose name, in Spanish and in Moqoit, points to the sky.
Key facts
- People and tradition
- Moqoit (Mocoví) and other peoples of the Gran Chaco
- Region
- South America
- When
- Before the 16th century to today
The story
In the dry forests of the Gran Chaco in northern Argentina lies a field of small craters and great masses of iron. When Spanish explorers arrived in the 16th century, local people told them that the iron had fallen from the sky, and the region became known as Campo del Cielo, the field of the sky. In 1576 a Spanish expedition went looking for a mass of iron believed to be the tip of a huge vein of metal, and found a great block later called the Mesón de Fierro, the 'iron table'.
The Moqoit people who live in the region today have their own names for the place, built on their word for the sky, and their own beliefs about meteors: one tradition says shooting stars bring luck, and others link them to wind, drought or flood. Stories from neighbouring peoples of the Chaco tell of a time when stones and fire fell from the sky.
What science says
Campo del Cielo is a field of at least 20 small craters made about 4,000 to 4,500 years ago when a large iron meteoroid broke up. More than 100 tonnes of iron, a group IAB iron, have been recovered, including masses of over 30 tonnes. Researchers who have recorded Moqoit traditions caution that it is hard to tell whether any particular story remembers the fall itself, but the idea that the iron came from the sky was already known to local people when the Spanish arrived.
Did you know?
The fall happened so long ago that people may well have seen it: the region was inhabited at the time.
The Gancedo mass, found in 2016, weighs about 30 tonnes.