Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s1.8

v1.c20.s1.8

Man-made iron can be easily distinguished from meteoritic iron which almost always contains high (more than four) percentage of nickel. In the ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean, iron ore used to be smelted in small furnaces resembling copper smelting furnaces. (Tylecote, 1962; Maddin et al., 1977; Maddin, 1982). Furnaces about a meter deep and about two-thirds of a meter in diameter were filled with iron ore and charcoal in a number of layers. A clay tuyere was led in from the side or from the top and attached to a bellow. The temperature in the hottest part was around 1200°C, and although reduction took place due to low Po₂ and high CO/CO₂ ratio, the metallic product was not liquid but a spongy mass.