Stones with Souls: How Have Meteorites Been Viewed in the Past and How Are They Viewed in the Present?

This study investigates how meteorites have been viewed across cultures and historical periods, discovering their position as sacred, political, and symbolic objects. Meteoritic iron was associated with the heavens in some of the earliest civilisations, and Sumerian and Egyptian linguistic traditions linked iron directly to the sky or to divine beings. Studies which included the black stone of Emesa, the Aegospotami and Abydos stones, the Cybele stone, and the sacred stones of Orchomenus, Cassandria, Tyre, Ephesus, Paphos, Delphi, and Mecca, all illustrate how these objects shaped religious belief, were used politically, and created enduring myths and legends. Medieval and early modern examples, such as the falls at Nogata, Ensisheim, and Willamette, show how meteoritic finds influenced ritual practices, legal structures, and developing scientific investigation. In regions which included Africa, America, and Asia, meteorites acquired cultural significance through oral tradition, craftsmanship, and mythology. Objects such as Libyan Desert Glass, Inuit tools, and Javanese kris blades demonstrate how celestial materials were incorporated into both practical and ceremonial artefacts. Using the structures of theorists such as Lévi-Strauss, Durkheim, Eliade, and Patrick Curry, the study interprets meteorites as objects whose meaning arises through cultural structures, collective rituals, sacred manifestations, and the experience of enchantment. Although science has advanced, meteorites continue to inspire wonder, appearing in museums, jewellery, and popular culture. These stones have acted as intermediaries between earth and sky, reflecting the desire to locate cosmic meaning inside the physical world, as if they were stones with souls.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Astley, Helen Claire

• D051 Hanes yr Henfyd
• HM Cymdeithaseg
• QB Astronomeg

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:4318