Dear Jack

See

Persian Steel, The Tanavoli Collection. James Allan & Brian Gilmour. Oxford Studies in Islamic Art XV, 2000. Oxford University Press.

The hardness of hardened steel and iron are very different so it likely they would give different traces depending on the rock type of the touchstone.

Chris

Sent from Samsung tablet.

-------- Original message --------

From: Jack Ogden <[log in to unmask]>

Date: 03/09/2017 14:56 (GMT+00:00)

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Iron v Steel

Hi all,

The 12th century English goldsmith Alexander Neckham included among the tools required by a goldsmith a touchstone for distinguishing iron from steel.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?

Also can anyone point me in the direction of published analyses of medieval Islamic iron and/or steel.

Best and thanks

Jack

Dr Jack Ogden FSA FGA

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