Dear Michael
I have been to the site and read most of it. I agree with Chris that this
has little to do with archaeology. The use of a highly refractory castable
for the furnace lining removes one of the problems faced by our predecessors
who were very unlikely to come across even a material as refractory as
Stourbridge clay. Slagging of the lining must have been a constant problem.
We have no evidence of insulation of any sort either. At the lining
thicknesses that were used in antiquity the outside of the furnace is not
very warm anyway.
Preheated air is a modern idea and we have no evidence that lime flux was
used. Again to a large extent a modern idea born of the blast furnace.
I am sure the authors had a great time finding out how to do it. They don't
seem to have expected to find out anything about how it was done in the
past, and I don't think they have.
Peter
Peter Hutchison
Hon. Gen. Secretary
The Historical Metallurgy Society Ltd.
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|