Tag: Metallurgy
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CT Scans Reveal Origins of Copper Metallurgy in Ancient Iran
New clues from an ancient technological leap Researchers from MIT and collaborating institutions are turning to modern imaging to illuminate a pivotal moment in human history: the birth of metallurgy. By applying computed tomography (CT) scans to ancient metallurgical remnants from what is now Iran, scientists are gaining unprecedented insight into how early communities extracted…
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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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Ancient Copper Smelting Revealed by CT Scans at MIT
New Windows into an Ancient Craft About 5,000 years ago, communities in the region that is now Iran began extracting copper by processing ore. This early form of metal production marked a turning point in human technology, laying the groundwork for metallurgy as we know it. In a recent study, researchers from MIT and collaborating…
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Kvemo Bolnisi: Iron Age Origins Revealed by Workshop
Uncovering a 3,000-Year-Old Workshop The Iron Age is one of humanity’s most transformative periods, marking a shift from bronze-burnished tools to the hard, durable metals that would shape empires. A fresh look at the Kvemo Bolnisi site in southern Georgia is helping researchers understand how iron metallurgy may have emerged. Rather than proving that iron…
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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…
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The Accidental Discovery That Forged the Iron Age
Kvemo Bolnisi: From iron to copper in a 3,000-year-old workshop In southern Georgia, a 3,000-year-old workshop called Kvemo Bolnisi has long puzzled archaeologists. Early excavations in the 1950s unearthed piles of hematite (an iron oxide mineral) and slag, which led researchers to declare the site an early iron-smelting workshop. New analyses, however, rewrite that history:…
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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…