With optical and near-infrared follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) it is possible to study the chemical enrichment of galaxies at high redshift. Especially interesting are measurements of the metallicity of GRB host with $z\gtrsim 4.7$, since it has recently been shown that damped Lymann-$\alpha$ absorbers have a rapid decrease in metallicity at this redshift (Rafelski et al. 2013). In this paper measurements of the amount of metals and dust in the host galaxy of GRB 111008A at $z=5.0$ is presented, and it is discussed how observations of more high-$z$ GRB host galaxies can give clues about dust formation mechanisms and the distribution of metals in the early Universe.
Categories: astro-ph.HE