Tag: Slag analysis
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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…