A man digs up boulder in his garden, not realizing that it was a historic meteorite

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Ancient humans used meteorites to make tools

Using cutting-edge technology, scientists have discovered that ancient Bronze Age tools were created using iron from meteorites at a time before humans were unable to smelt iron ore.

A rock discovered in a garden in Germany has been confirmed as the largest stony meteorite ever found in the country.

The space rock, which weighs 66 pounds, was discovered more than 30 years ago in a garden in Blaubeuren, in southern Germany. “In 1989, a homeowner was digging a cable trench on his property in Blaubeuren, in the German region of Swabia, when his spade hit a rock,” explains the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in a statement. “Upon lifting it half a meter [1.6-feet] to the surface, he found that it was remarkably heavy.”

The rock, which is a chondrite, or stony meteorite, measures 11 inches by 9.8 inches by 7.9 inches.

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The man held a magnet to the rock and confirmed that it contained iron. “The angular boulder was then left lying in the garden for decades,” DLR added. “Only 31 years later did it occur to the finder that it might be a visitor from space.”

The "Blaubeuren" meteorite. (Gabriele Heinlein/DLR)

In January, he reported his discovery to the DLR’s Institute of Planetary Research, which confirmed that it is a meteorite.

Earlier this month, the Meteoritical Society, the international organization of meteorite researchers, also confirmed in its bulletin that the find is a meteorite. The space rock has been named Blaubeuren after the place where it was found.

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A small chunk of an asteroid or comet is also known as a meteoroid. When it enters Earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor or fireball or shooting star. The pieces of rock that hit the ground, valuable to collectors, are meteorites.

Scientists found the earliest evidence of a person being killed by a meteorite. Writing in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science, experts explain how they uncovered evidence of the incident, which occurred in Iraq in the late 19th century.

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In 2017, a meteor made headlines when it flashed across the sky in Michigan. The blazing fireball sent meteorite hunters scrambling to find fragments of the rare space rock.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers