Before the use of iron smelting, meteoric iron was the only source of iron metal apart from minor amounts of telluric iron. Meteoric iron was already used before the beginning of the iron age to make cultural objects, tools, and weapons.
In ancient Egypt an iron metal pearl was found in a graveyard near Gerzeh that contained 7.5 percent nickel. A dagger made from meteoric iron was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The Inuit used parts of the Cape York meteorite. Fragments from Gibeon were used for centuries by Nama people.
There are also reports of their use for manufacture of various items in Tibet, including the Iron Man, a statue of Vaiśravaṇa carved from an iron meteorite. In 1000 CE, a Tibetan Buddhist statue, the Iron Man, was likely carved from an ataxite meteorite. It might even be made from a fragment of the Chinga meteorite.
Even after the invention of smelting, meteoric iron was sometimes used where this technology was not available or metal was scarce. A piece of the Cranbourne meteorite was made into a horseshoe around 1854. Today meteoritic iron is used in niche jewelery and knife production, but most of it is used for research, educational or collecting purposes.