Compositional, Microstructural, and Microtextural Evolution of an Octahedrite Iron Meteorite During Experimental Forging: Implications for Archaeometallurgy

ABSTRACT Meteoritic iron represents an early metallic resource exploited by human societies. Despite its archaeological significance, the thermo‐mechanical behavior of meteoritic iron during forging remains poorly understood. In this study, forging experiments were conducted on an octahedrite iron meteorite to evaluate its chemical, microstructural, and microtextural evolution under controlled thermal conditions. Samples were forged at three temperature ranges and subsequently analyzed using LIBS, XRF, and SEM‐EDS‐EBSD. The results provide experimental constraints on the thermal thresholds controlling the preservation or destruction of Widmanstätten patterns during forging and offer a framework for interpreting the technological processing of meteoritic iron artifacts in archaeological contexts.