On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, James H Brothers IV wrote:
> According to Tylecote (1962 p302) yields in UK furnaces went from 27% of
> available Fe in 1548 to 92% in 1648. Apparently due to the introduction
> of lime as a fluxing agent. Is mid 1600s a good date? When does
> limestone/shell appear as a flux elsewhere?
Just in case it has not been mentioned off-list already: geochemical slag
analysis on a Romano-Barbarian site in the Vecht area in the Netherlands
suggested the use of shells as a flux for the iron smelting process. An
iron smelting experiment was subsequently undertaken to explore the issue
further.
The reference is:
I. Joosten/B. Jansen/H. Kars
The use of a model to describe bloomery production in the Netherlands
in: L.C. Norbach (ed.)
Early iron production - archaeology, technology and experiments
Nordic Iron Seminar, Lejre, July 22-28 1996
Lejre Historical-Archaeological Experimental Centre Technical Report 3
(1997)
pp.37-46
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Irene E Schrufer-Kolb
School of Archaeological Studies Tel.: +44-116-252-3980
University of Leicester FAX: +44-116-252-5005
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