Cape York meteorite, Iron meteorite in Avannaata, Greenland

The Cape York meteorite comprises eight large fragments totaling 58 tonnes, containing high nickel levels and troilite nodules. The largest piece, Ahnighito, weighs around 31 tonnes and remains on permanent display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

In 1818 John Ross met Inughuit using iron blades and heard of a distant 'iron mountain', but the source stayed hidden for decades. Robert Peary reached the fragments in 1894 with Inuit guide Aleqatsiaq, then built a timber 'railroad' to haul the Woman and Dog in 1895 and the 31-tonne Tent, renamed Ahnighito, in 1897. He sold Ahnighito to the American Museum of Natural History for $40,000.

Inughuit hunters called the fragments Saviksue, "the great irons", and cold-forged blades and harpoons from them by hammering the metal with stones. A legend recorded by Robert Peary named the three main pieces after a sewing woman, her tent and a curled-up dog hurled from the sky by the spirit Tornarsuk.

The largest fragment is displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, accessible to visitors. To see this meteorite, travelers need to visit New York, as only smaller pieces remain in Greenland.

The 31-tonne Ahnighito fragment rests on six steel columns that pass through the museum floor and foundation into the bedrock below. Peary's daughter gave the fragment its name during a "baptizing" ceremony; Ahnighito was her middle name, likely an anglophile version of Arnakitsoq, her nanny's name.