Copper workers' experiments might have helped usher in Iron Age
3 days ago
- #Metallurgy
- #Iron Age
- #Archaeology
- Iron metallurgy was a pivotal moment in human history, enabling stronger tools and weapons.
- Bronze Age copper smelters may have sparked the invention of iron, according to new research.
- Materials from Kvemo Bolnisi in Georgia, originally thought to be iron smelting, were actually used for copper production with iron oxide as flux.
- This experimentation with iron oxide in copper smelting may have been key in transitioning from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
- The site shows metalworkers understood iron oxide as a separate material and experimented with its properties.