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I have been re-collecting the missing elements of the late Tom Brady’s collection of glassy slag from the Virginia charcoal era iron furnaces. I would be happy to help. However, the date is a bit out of the norm. I am also aware of the various claims about what is essentially prehistoric iron smelting, all of which have thus far been disproved and/or shown to be early European colonization efforts and not blast furnaces. The first New World blast furnace was at Falling Creek, VA (www.fallingcreekironworks.org) and that was possibly started in 1619 but certainly was completed in 1621 and was subsequently obliterated by the Powhatans on March 22, 1622. Proof of smelting or even ironworking depends not upon dating methods, but upon stratigraphic analysis. To date, that is not only lacking, but non-existent. However, if there’s just one site, I do wonder why such a superior metal didn’t take over as elsewhere happened. Lyle Browning, RPA > On Oct 18, 2018, at 2:28 PM, Killick, David J - (killick) <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > It’s odd that Arkfeld hasn’t contacted me, since I’m usually the go-to guy in the USA for archaeometric analysis of iron smelting residues. > > There’s a persistent thread of claims for Native American iron smelting in the American Midwest, most associated with either Hopewell or Misssippian periods and cetered on the Ohio River Valley. One of the main proponents posts occasionally to this list. > > If the piece of “furnace wall” was dated at the University of Washington, then there is no reason to dispute the date. This is Jim Feathers lab, which produces most of the OSL/IRSL dates for archaeologists in the USA. What is very much at issue is whether this piece of fired ceramic has anything to do with iron smelting, or with metallurgy at all. > > There is a little iron in Hopewell sites (ca. 200 BC-300 AD), but all samples examined to date are meteoritic. Some of the big hitters in the study of iron meteorites (notably John Wasson at UCLA) have been very interested in Hopewell iron, as the chemistry and microstructure of some pieces didn’t align well with those of the 300+ known iron meteorite falls in North America. This conundrum was recently resolved when road construction in Minnesota turned up fragments of an iron meteorite that had apparently blown apart before hitting the ground. This has been named the Anoka meteorite, and a very nice paper by was published on it and Hopewell iron in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2017. > > > From: Arch-Metals Group <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Aaron Shugar <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: Arch-Metals Group <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 10:38 AM > To: Arch-Metals Group <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: Ancient iron furnace > > Mr. Arkfeld had been trying to validate his site for several years now. He first reached out to me in 2014 and I know he has tried others in the US already. I was unable to help due to other obligations, but the whole thing sounded fishy to me. > > > > On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 1:32 PM [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: >> Might there be a typo in the dating. 150 AD sounds more than a bit too early for iron. >> >> Carl Berkowitz >> From: Jeremy Hodgkinson <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> >> To: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2018 11:16 AM >> Subject: Ancient iron furnace >> >> Can anyone in the USA help this correspondent, or can anyone elsewhere suggest someone who can? I cannot help as I live in England. I can forward Luminescence and C14 reports if you reply with an email address. >> >> Jeremy Hodgkinson >> >> -------- Forwarded Message -------- >> Subject: >> Ancient iron furnace >> Date: >> Thu, 18 Oct 2018 09:01:18 -0400 >> From: >> Adam Arkfeld <[log in to unmask]> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> To: >> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> >> >> Hello Jeremy, >> >> The remnants of an iron furnace and associated slags have been discovered on an archaeological site located in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. >> A section of furnace wall material was dated at the University of Washington. Testing produced a date of 150 AD. C14 tests and artifacts found in association support this early date. Test results attached. >> I cannot find a metallurgy expert to investigate this remarkable discovery. >> I am hopeful that you may know an expert who would be motivated. >> Please contact me. >> Thank you, >> Adam Arkfeld >> -- >> >> Jeremy S. Hodgkinson, MA, FSA, >> Honorary Research Fellow (Archaeology), >> University of Exeter >> 3 Saxon Road, Worth, Crawley, RH10 7SA >> Tel: 01293 886278 >> Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> www.ex.ac.uk/archaeology <http://www.ex.ac.uk/archaeology> >> >> This email and any attachment may contain information that is confidential, privileged, or subject to copyright, and which may be exempt from disclosure under applicable legislation. It is intended for the addressee only. If you received this message in error, please let me know and delete the email and any attachments immediately. The University will not accept responsibility for the accuracy/completeness of this email and its attachments. >> >> To unsubscribe from the ARCH-METALS list, click the following link: >> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1 <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1> >> >> >> >> To unsubscribe from the ARCH-METALS list, click the following link: >> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1 <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1> > > > -- > Aaron Shugar > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > http://flip.it/fCmAh <http://flip.it/fCmAh> > > > To unsubscribe from the ARCH-METALS list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1 <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1> > To unsubscribe from the ARCH-METALS list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1 <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1> ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the ARCH-METALS list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=ARCH-METALS&A=1