H. Darrell Iler wrote:
> Are there small scale furnaces that are made for or are appropriate
> for such a lab experiment?
Yes, there are.
> What metals, if any, would be best suited for such an exercise ?
> Is reducing iron out of the question due to temperature
> considerations?
No, it is not - if you dispose of an induction coil furnace and several
(glas)-carbon crucibles of ca. 10 ml content. Additionally you should be
able to make some surface polishing of the vertically cut crucibles and
their content after the experiment. We are just preparing a publication
(late medieval iron ore technology in the Lahn-Dill region, Germany)
with a schematic picture of exactly such an experiment (A. Kronz).The
results - iron and fayalitic slag, including a certain gradient in the
oxygen fugacity - are quite comparable to those of the ancient iron
reducing technology of the "Rennfeuer" type, if the bulk composition of
the "ore" fits into the range of this process.
Ingo Keesmann
__________________________________________________________
Arbeitsgruppe Archaeometallurgie
Institut fuer Geowissenschaften
Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz
D-55099 Mainz (Germany)
Telefon (+49) 6131 39 3 0181
Telefax (+49) 6131 39 2 3070
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http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Geo/Geologie/archaeo/
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