Tag: Flux
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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…
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How Copper Smelters Accidentally Sparked the Birth of the Iron Age
Introduction: A Hidden Spark in Copper Minds The Iron Age is usually painted as a decisive leap from bronze to iron. Yet new research from Cranfield University suggests a more circuitous path: copper smelters may have stumbled upon iron metallurgy by experimenting with iron oxide as a flux. In doing so, they didn’t produce iron…
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Iron Emergence from Copper: Kvemo Bolnisi Discovery
Unearthing Kvemo Bolnisi: A 3,000-Year-Old Copper Workshop In the southern Caucasus, the Kvemo Bolnisi site in Georgia preserves a workshop dating back roughly three millennia. When archaeologists excavated the area in the mid-20th century, they unearthed caches of hematite, an iron oxide mineral, and extensive slag—byproducts of metal production. Based on those finds, the original…