A recently published paper is making the bold claim that there's evidence that an ancient, bronze age city was destroyed by an asteroid air burst. It's got a lot of attention because this is being linked to a story in the Hebrew Bible which is a core text in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. However, many scientists with expertise in the field are unconvinced.

This is the paper in question, published in 'Scientific Reports' the open access side of Nature with lower bar for entry than the flagship publication.
A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

There's a related paper from some of the authors talking about another city in a similar location also destroyed by an airburst.
Evidence of Cosmic Impact at Abu Hureyra, Syria at the Younger Dryas Onset (~12.8 ka): High-temperature melting at 2200 °C
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

Many of the criticisms I've cited are shared via twitter, since it's the fastest way to respond to the popularity of this article.
  / markboslough  
  / chrisstantis  
  / petrabonegirl  
  / mtb_archaeology  


The airburst map animation is from the B612 Foundation
   • B612 Asteroid Impact Video  

And the full Phoenix Wright animation is here:
   • #objection  

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