First experimental reconstruction of an Angkorian iron furnace (13th–14th centuries CE): Archaeological and archaeometric implications

Leroy, Stéphanie; Bauvais, Sylvain; Delqué-Količ, Emmanuelle; Hendrickson, Mitch; Josso, Nicolas; Dumoulin, Jean-Pascal; Soutif, Dominique

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102592

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The poor control of the technique must be the result of the work of unexperienced people. This contrasts with the more complex technical traditions of iron smelting known in the other areas in Africa [43,[49][50][51][52] and around the Indian Ocean [44,45]. In this respect the hypothesis of a technological transfer from another area where a more advanced technique was already established is not convincing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Interpreting the Chemical Variability of Iron Smelting Slag: A Case Study from Northeastern Madagascar

Morel

Serneels

2021

Minerals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The archaeological remains of a metallurgical workshop were excavated at Amboronala (northeast of Madagascar/1000–1200 CE). The bulk mineralogical (X-ray Diffraction) and chemical (X-ray Fluorescence) data on ores, building materials, and slag are used to carry out a mass balance calculation. The results show an important variability from one smelt to the other, reflecting a poorly controlled process. During each smelt, a given amount of building material contributes to the formation of the slag, and the conditions of reduction allow the extraction of a given amount of metal. These two main factors influence the composition of the slag independently and variably. This finding allows to make some inference on the origin of the technique and the organization of the production can be made.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…At Amboronala, the smelters used small and simple bowl furnaces. Compared to other bloomery furnaces of the same period, the architecture is not very efficient for saving heat and concentrating the reducing gases [43][44][45]. The use of bellows can be inferred from the shape and size of the tuyere (Figure 2).…”

Section: Variability Of the Iron Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting the Chemical Variability of Iron Smelting Slag: A Case Study from Northeastern Madagascar

Morel

Serneels

2021

Minerals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Experimental activities were carried out from 19 July to 21 July 2019, from morning to night, with sunny weather conditions and temperatures between 25° C -27° C, all of the clays, charcoal, laterite, hematite and heat were measured and written in the notebook, every step of the experiment also documented with photos, the location take place in the in the villagers' fields. This ancient iron metal smelting furnace experiment process was carried out for the first time in Indonesia so there are no specific guidelines for carrying it out, however iron smelting furnace experiments have been carried out in various countries such as in Cambodia by Leroy et al in 2020 at the Angkor period iron metal smelting site (13-14 Century) which was successful demonstrated that the production of slag and iron was not in line with the archaeological systems surrounding Phnom Dek and that there were deficiencies in the process and challenge with the experiments materials (Leroy et al 2020;15). Experiment of bowl furnace from England taken by Marks et al which focuses on the shape of the furnace which is effective for carrying out the melting process because its shape makes the burning process more focused and makes it more fuel efficient and speeds up the melting process (Marks et al 2020;11).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Experimental Iron Process Based on The Montalat Iron Sites in Central Kalimantan – Indonesia

Sofian,

Hartatik,

Sunarningsih

et al. 2023

KPT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article is based on an experimental iron furnace from archaeological sites in Central Kalimantan – Indonesia, from July 2019. The iron furnace for the experiment is replicated the original iron furnaces from the latest research found in 2017 in the Benangin and Temelalo sites from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The experiment aims to prove whether the iron furnace can melt metal. From the archaeological experiment we can answer questions about the iron process in Central Kalimantan in the past with the local resource’s laterite and hematite. From archaeological experiments, duplicate iron furnaces can make iron raw materials into melts and extract iron from hematite and laterite raw materials. The results showed that the ancient people in Central Kalimantan were able to make iron from raw materials and process it as iron ingot.

show abstract

“…At Amboronala, the smelters used small and simple bowl furnaces. Compared to other bloomery furnaces of the same period, the architecture is not very efficient for saving heat and concentrating the reducing gases (Leroy et al, 2020;Juleff, 2009;Chirikure and Rehren, 2004). The use of bellows can be inferred from the shape and size of the tuyere (Figure 5.8).…”

Section: Variability Of the Iron Production At Mbr140mentioning

confidence: 99%

Iron Metallurgy in Northeastern Madagascar

Morel

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In medieval times, a population the so-called Rasikajy was settled on the northeastern coast of Madagascar. This population was in contact with the Indian Ocean trading network, as attested by the presence of imported goods from China, India or Persia in some tombs in the necropolis of Vohémar, excavated in the first half of the 20th century. This population remains under-studied and little is known about their material culture or their way of life. The presence of iron slag in northeastern Madagascar has long been documented in archaeological literature, but no in-depth study had been carried out. The aims of this doctoral project were therefore to describe and better understand these metallurgical remains and the associated technical tradition. Three excavation campaigns and four additional survey campaigns were carried out between 2017 and 2021, completely renewing our knowledge on this area of Madagascar. Approximately 150 slag heaps spread over twenty locations have been described, representing about 450 tons of slag. However, these sites are concentrated in the southern half of the study area, thus defining a spatially delimited metallurgical district. The metallurgical production could be dated by radiocarbon dating to between the 11th and 14th century CE. Before this period, the Rasikajy already knew and used iron tools, but they imported this metal via the Indian Ocean trade. The combined approach of fieldwork and laboratory work has enabled the reconstruction of metallurgical practices, despite the fragile and poorly preserved remains. The Rasikajy technical tradition used a furnace in the form of a simple elliptical bowl dug directly into the sandy substratum, without any clay lining. No clay superstructure could be identified either. However, small walls were built of loose sand, sometimes reinforced with a few stone blocks. A single tuyere, made of stone or clay, was set into this sandy wall and connected to bellows. Lateritic ores, in the form of ferruginous concretions with remarkably high iron content, were reduced in these small structures. When an excess of slag was produced for the capacity of the bassin, the slag was drained off through a small channel dug in the sand. This technical tradition is observed throughout the metallurgical district. However, each site is slightly different, which shows a local adaptation of the technique, probably depending on the availability of raw materials, e.g. to make the tuyere. An detailed chemical (XRF) and mineralogical (XRD, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS) study revealed a high variability in slag composition. This variability is partly due to a high contamination of sand, which is the construction material of the furnace. Mass balance calculations also show that iron production was irregular from one smelting operation to another. In some cases smelting operations even failed, producing no iron at all. The technique appears to be poorly controlled, although the structure of the furnace certainly does not allow for complete control of each smelting operation. However, the variability is such that we believe that the metallurgists were non-specialised workers, producing iron only occasionally when metal ran out. This is clearly not a mass production but rather a small-scale production with occasional smelting campaigns to meet local iron needs. Finally, a reflection on the origin of this unusual technical tradition has been carried out. As the Rasikajy were in contact with other populations in the Indian Ocean, a transfer of technology could have taken place. In this case, parallels of this technique would have been found elsewhere in the Indian Ocean. No similar technique has been documented so far in archaeological, historical or ethnographic sources. Hence, it is possible that the Rasikajy reinvented a basic smelting technique from smithing techniques.

show abstract

First experimental reconstruction of an Angkorian iron furnace (13th–14th centuries CE): Archaeological and archaeometric implications

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

Interpreting the Chemical Variability of Iron Smelting Slag: A Case Study from Northeastern Madagascar

Interpreting the Chemical Variability of Iron Smelting Slag: A Case Study from Northeastern Madagascar

First Experimental Iron Process Based on The Montalat Iron Sites in Central Kalimantan – Indonesia

Iron Metallurgy in Northeastern Madagascar

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About