The London Hammer, also called the "London Artifact," is a tool made of iron and wood that was discovered in London, Texas in 1936. A part of the hammer is stuck inside a hard rock formation, which has led some people to consider it an unusual artifact. The hammer is the same as those used by miners in the late 1800s. One idea for why it is surrounded by rock is that a type of rock called travertine, which dissolves easily in water, may have formed around it and hardened quickly over a short period of time.

History

The hammer was said to have been found by a local couple, Max Hahn and Emma Zadie Hahn, while they were walking near Red Creek, close to the town of London. They noticed a strange loose rock with a piece of wood inside and took it home. Ten years later, their son, Max, broke open the rock and discovered the hidden hammerhead inside.

The hammerhead is about 6 inches (15 centimeters) long and has a diameter of 1 inch (25 millimeters). This has led some to believe the hammer was not used for large tasks but for delicate work or soft metal. The hammerhead is made of 96.6% iron, 2.6% chlorine, and 0.74% sulfur.

The hammer gained more attention after it was purchased in 1983 by Carl Baugh, a creationist. He claimed the artifact was a major "pre-Flood" discovery. He used it to support ideas about how the atmosphere of Earth before the flood might have allowed giants to grow. Baugh’s Creation Evidence Museum bought the hammer around 1983 and began calling it "the London Artifact."

Other experts have observed that the hammer’s style matches typical American tools made in the late 1800s in the region. Its design is similar to a miner’s hammer. One possible reason the rock contains the hammer is that minerals in ancient limestone might have formed a hard layer around the object, much like how petrifying wells create encrustations around fossils and other items in a short time.