A Mystery For A Wednesday...!

Sorry about missing yesterday, but sometimes life gets in the way, ya know?

I thought that we could go over something today that I found very interesting! I really like these strange stories, especially when there are pictures to go with them!

History is so full of many mysteries that as yet to be solved! I guess we could spend the rest of our lives checking them out and maybe never find an answer...but just think of how interesting it would be to try!

Check this out...!

The Aluminum Wedge of Aiud
Posted on February 14, 2011

In 1974, in Romania, East of Aiud, a group of workers, on the banks of the river Mures, discovered three buried objects in a sand trench 10 meters deep. Two of the objects proved to be Mastodon bones. These dating from between the Miocene and the Pleistocene periods.

The third object — the Aluminum Wedge of Aiud, also known as the Object of Aiud, is a mysterious wedge-shaped block of metal similar in some respects to the head of a hammer. The object was sent to the archeological institute of Cluj-Napoca. The examination of this object showed it to weigh about 5lbs. There are two holes of different sizes. The object has two arms. Traces of tool marks can be seen on the sides of the object and at its lowest part. It measures approximately 8″ x 5″ x 3″.



Dr. Niederkorn of the institute for the study of metals and non-metallic minerals located in Magurele, Romania, concluded that the object is comprised of a alloy of an extremely complex metal. Twelve different elements combine to form the Aiud Object. It consists of: 89% aluminum, 6.2% copper, 2.84% silicon, 1.81% zinc, 0.41% lead, 0.33% tin, 0.2% zirconium, 0.11% cadmium, 0.0024% nickel, 0.0023% cobalt, 0.0003% bismuth, and trace of galium.

Furthermore, this strange object is covered with a thick layer of aluminum oxide, which lends credence to its antiquity. After the analysis of this aluminum oxide layer, specialists have confirmed that the object is a minimum of 300 to 400 years old.

The fact that this strange metal object was found alongside Mastadon bones does cause one to wonder and raises many issues. These findings helped to ignite a heated debate within the scientific community.

The results puzzled the researchers because pure aluminum was not readily obtainable until the middle of the 19th century. Aluminum is not found freely in nature, but is combined with other minerals. The manufacturing process requires 1,000 degrees of heat. It has been thought that only in the last 100 years or so has the technology existed to successfully separate the materials from the mineral bearing ore.



Other specialists claim that the object could be 20,000 years old because it was found in a layer with mastodon bone. Perhaps this particular specimen lived in the latter part of the Pleistocene.

Some researchers suppose that this piece of metal was part of a flying object that had fallen into the river. They presume that it had an extraterrestrial origin. Other researchers believe the wedge was made here on Earth and its purpose has not yet been identified.

Not much information can be found on this subject. The lack of data can possibly be explained by the imposed restrictions on archaeology and history by the communist rule of the time.

The aluminum wedge of Aiud remains a mystery.

Ya know, we could sit and speculate for a long time as to what this thing actually is...and where it came from! But then, that's what makes it a mystery, right?

You just have to love stories like this! At least, I do!

Now, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit on the patio! You can help me decide what I'm gonna put in the garden!