Meteorite Men: Vaca Muerta Display Box

Stony-irons are by far the rarest of the three main classes of meteorites; the others being irons and stones. Mesosiderites and pallasites make up the stony-irons and Vaca Muerta (Spanish for “dead cow”) is a rare example of the mesosiderite type. First discovered in 1861 by prospectors looking for rare metals, the Vaca Muerta meteorite comes from a difficult-to-reach area in Chile’s vast Atacama Desert. The area has been extensively hunted since the 1960s and examples of this meteorite only rarely come to market.