Lot 86
Mount Tazerzait
The Robert Elliott Meteorite Collection Part II
Auction: 17 August 2011 at 15:00 BST
Description
fragment
Dimensions
410g, 11 x 6 x 6.5cm
Footnote
Mount Tazerzait (Tahoua, Niger) L5 (stone) - fell 21st August 1991:
A sudden bright fireball, terrific explosions, and a long smoke trail, terrified a young boy in the Northwest desert of Niger. At the time the boy, a member of the local nomadic Tuareg tribe, had been searching for a lost goat at the foot of Mount Tazerzait in Tamesna.
During his search, the boy stumbled across a crater. Lying right in the centre was a large black rock, half buried in the earth. The rock was far too large and heavy for the boy to retrieve by himself but, knowing that this rock from the sky was certain to be very valuable, the next day he led his brothers to the site. Having no means of transporting such a mass, the meteorite was broken up into smaller, more manageable pieces and carried out of the desert.