Tag: Ancient technology
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MIT CT Scans Reveal Early Copper Smelting and the Birth of Metallurgy in Ancient Iran
Uncovering an Ancient Breakthrough Around 5,000 years ago, communities in what is now Iran began extracting copper from rock through a process called smelting. This pivotal shift is believed to have laid the groundwork for metallurgy, a technology that would reshape human societies. New findings from MIT researchers, who employed computed tomography (CT) scans, illuminate…
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How a 3,000-Year-Old Workshop May Unravel the Iron Age Origins
New clues from a 3,000-year-old workshop The Iron Age transformed human civilization with durable tools, improved farming, and new forms of conflict. Yet the origin story of how iron became central to technology remains debated. A fresh examination of a 3,000-year-old site in southern Georgia—Kvemo Bolnisi—offers compelling evidence that iron may have entered metallurgical practice…
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How Copper Smelters Accidentally Sparked the Iron Age
Uncovering a Hidden Link Between Copper and Iron The idea that the Iron Age began with a single, momentous breakthrough is being challenged by new evidence from Cranfield University. Researchers revisited a 3,000-year-old workshop at Kvemo Bolnisi in southern Georgia and uncovered a surprising twist in the story of metallurgy: iron oxide particles were present…