Researchers analyzed five fragments from Tycho Brahe’s Uraniborg and detected 31 trace elements, including an unexpected presence of tungsten. The shards — four glass and one ceramic — date to excavations from 1988–1990 and are believed to come from Brahe’s basement alchemical workshop. Tungsten’s presence is puzzling because it was not characterized as an element until the 1780s; it could reflect accidental contamination from minerals or, less provably, deliberate use informed by German mineral traditions. The finding underscores Brahe’s blending of astronomy and alchemy but leaves the role of tungsten in his remedies unresolved.
Tycho Brahe’s Lost Alchemy Lab Yields a Surprise Element — Tungsten Found in 400-Year-Old Shards
Wild Element Discovered In Renaissance MedicinesPhoto taken by Kami (Kuo, Jia-Wei) - Getty Images
Researchers re-examining fragments from Tycho Brahe’s dismantled Uraniborg observatory have uncovered chemical traces that point to a subterranean alchemy workshop and the metals used to prepare high‑end medicines. The surprising discovery: traces of tungsten — an element not formally identified until the 1780s — on shards recovered during excavations in 1988–1990.
Published in the journal Heritage Science, the study was carried out by teams from the University of Southern Denmark and the National Museum of Denmark. The researchers analyzed cross‑sections of five fragments (four glass pieces and one ceramic shard) for 31 trace elements using mass spectrometry, a technique that ionizes molecules to determine elemental composition. Expected metals and metalloids common to early modern alchemy and pharmacopeia — including nickel, copper, zinc, tin, antimony, gold, mercury and lead — were present in varying concentrations.
But one element stood out. Tungsten appeared in the analyses, raising immediate questions because it was not described in chemistry texts until the 1780s and later became widely known under the name wolfram.
“Tungsten is very mysterious,” Kaare Lund Rasmussen, an archaeometry specialist at the University of Southern Denmark, said. “Tungsten had not even been described at that time, so what should we infer from its presence on a shard from Tycho Brahe’s alchemy workshop?”
The authors emphasize that the data are intriguing but not conclusive. There are two plausible, non‑exclusive explanations: tungsten may have been introduced inadvertently through naturally occurring minerals among raw materials, or it may reflect deliberate use of minerals or compounds that contained tungsten-bearing ores. Rasmussen notes that some of Brahe’s remedies and recipes show German influences, and tungsten (wolfram) later figured in German mineralogy and chemistry — though the current analyses cannot prove intentional use or knowledge of tungsten by Brahe.
The study also highlights enrichment patterns: several elements appeared in higher concentrations than expected, which suggests purposeful handling or processing of specific substances in the workshop. Alchemists of the early modern period commonly linked metals to planets and organs (for example, gold with the Sun and the heart, silver with the Moon and the brain, tin with Jupiter and the liver, and mercury with the planet Mercury and the lungs). Brahe combined that alchemical framework with his astronomical worldview and is known to have produced complex remedies; his reputed plague mixture reportedly contained as many as 60 ingredients, from snake flesh and opium to copper, oils and herbs.
Where tungsten would fit into Brahe’s materia medica — if it played any intentional role at all — remains unknown. The finding opens new avenues for research into the materials used in early modern medical chemistry and the breadth of raw ingredients in elite remedies.
Context: The five shards analyzed were excavated from what is believed to be the garden area of Uraniborg on the island of Ven in excavations carried out between 1988 and 1990. The work is a collaboration with Biography.com and published in Heritage Science.
What Remains To Be Done: Further sampling, more extensive geochemical mapping of local and traded mineral sources, and historical research into early German mineralogy and Brahe’s procurement networks could help determine whether tungsten’s presence reflects contamination, trade in tungsten‑bearing minerals, or an intentional (if undocumented) inclusion in medicinal recipes.
