• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.144-179
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• 2010

Investigation into iron manufacture relics has been active since 1970s, especially accelerated in 1990s across the country. Consideration of the importance of production site relics has lately attracted attention to iron manufacture relics. Methodological studies of the investigation into iron manufacture relics, however, were less made compared with those of the investigation into tomb, dwelling, or swampy place relics. It is because the process of iron manufacture is too complicated to understand and also requires professional knowledge of metal engineering. With the recognition of these problems this research is to form an opinion about how to excavate, to rearrange and classify, and to examine iron manufacture relics, based upon the understanding of the nature of iron, iron production process, and metal engineering features of related relics like slag, iron lumps and so on. This research classifies iron manufacture relics into seven types according to the production process; mining, smelting, refining, tempering, melting, steelmaking, and the others. Then it arranges methods to survey in each stage of field study, trial digging, and excavation. It also explains how to classify and examine excavated relics, what field of natural science to be used to know the features of relics, and what efforts have been made to reconstruct a furnace and what their problems were, making the best use of examples, drawings, and photos. It comes to the conclusion, in spite of the lack of in-depth discussion on application and development of various investigation methods, that iron manufacture relics can be classified according to the production process, that natural sciences should be applied to get comprehensive understanding of relics as well as archeological knowledge, and that efforts to reconstruct a furnace should be continued from the aspect of experimental archeology.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.148-165
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• 2015

Iron was one of the most influential factors for formation and development of ancient countries. The diffusion of ironware had increased agricultural productivity and brought about military technical revolution. Needless to say, the rise and fall of the countries depended on the possession of stable iron production. Raw materials and fuels are the key factors for mass production of iron and a transportation route is essential to supply the goods. Jungwon area satisfies the three factors. There are many iron manufacture sites such as Jincheon Seokjang-ri Gusan-ri, and Chunju Chilgeum-dong Tangeumdae earthen ramparts in the Jungwon area. In order to study the ancient iron manufacture technique, reconstitution experiment was carried out using restored furnace which was made based on the Jincheon Seokjang-ri B-23 furnace. Some notable results were identified with the experiment as in the followings. Firstly, a roasting process has a connection with the decrease of hardness of the iron ore. Secondly, melting of the blast pipe as well as the formation of product within the furnace had a crucial effect on the cessation of the experiment. Thirdly, reduced iron in various locations within the furnace prove that there was enough reducing environment during the working. Not only melting point but also properties of iron can vary depending on the carbon contents. For the reason, formation of approximate environment in which iron can react to the chalcoal is the most important factor in terms of iron manufacture.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.475-499
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• 2023

To infer the provenance of raw iron materials utilized in iron production at the archaeological sites in Gyeongsang province, petrographic and geochemical analyses were conducted for smelting samples and major iron ores sourced from ore deposits. The smelting samples excavated from various iron archaeological sites were classified into different types according to their refining processes, such as iron bloom, iron bloom slag, pig iron, pig iron slag, forging iron flake, smithery iron, iron flake, and arrowhead. These samples exhibited discernable differences in their mineralogical components and texture. The enrichments of major elements such as aluminum and calcium in silicate minerals of the residual slags and the high contents of trace elements such as nickel and copper in some iron-making relics reflect the characteristics of raw iron ores, and thus can be regarded as potential indicators for inferring the provenance of source materials. In particular, the compositional ranges of Pb-Sr isotope ratios for the iron smelting samples were classified into three categories: 1) those exhibiting similar ratios to those of the raw iron ores, 2) those enriched in strontium isotope ratio, and 3) those enriched in both lead and strontium isotope ratios. The observed distinct Pb-Sr isotope characteristics in the iron smelting samples suggest the potential contribution of specific additives being introduced during the high-temperature refining process. These results provide a new perspective on the interpretation of the provenance study of the iron archaeological samples in Gyeongsang province, particularly in terms of the potential contribution of additives on the refining process.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.4-17
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• 2017

In this research, the chemical composition of the iron artifacts from the late 6th-century to early 7thcentury Baekje remains in Gwanbuk-ri, Buyeo, specifically of the nine iron artifacts including slags, furnace walls and ingot iron excavated in the District "Na", were examined by observing their chemical compounds and microstructures. As a result, GB1 and GB6 were determined to be proto-reduction lumps whereas GB2, GB3, GB4 and GB5 were determined to be tempered slags, respectively. Also, he furnace wall GB7 were containing mullite and cristobalite, which are high temperature index minerals, The extrusion temperature was found out to be about $1200{\sim}1300^{\circ}C$, and it is most likely that the smelting temperature in the furnace was in that temperature range. GB8 ingot iron was determined to be a forged ironware. This ingot iron was an intermediary product for making ironware and its nonmetallic inclusions displayed similar microstructure and contents compared to the forged iron. Because of the existence of proto-reduction lumps and forged iron, the iron making facility located in District "Na" most likely had a small-scale iron making facility that handled iron bloom smelting and refining processes.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2020

In the present article, we have analyzed five slags excavated from the Unified Silla period iron smelting site, i.e., location 4-2 of the Inje Bupyeong-ri site, to investigate the iron smelting process. The total Fe content of the slag excavated from the Inje Bupyeong-ri site ranged between 3.65 and 23.78 wt%, lower than that of typical slag, and deoxidation agent of the slag ranged between 65.92 and 88.96 wt%, higher than that of typical slag. These results suggest that the recovery rate of iron was significantly high. Furthermore, cristobalite was detected in most of the samples, and the furnace temperature, estimated by substituting the analyzed data into the FAS and FCS state diagrams, was confirmed as 1,600℃ or more. These results suggest that the operation at the Inje Bupyeong-ri site was performed at a temperature capable of producing cast iron by completely melting the carbon-containing iron. Observation of the microstructure showed that the iron fragments excavated at the Inje Bupyeong-ri site were identified as white cast iron. Steadite from the ternary iron-carbon-phosphorus system was observed in the white cast iron structure. These results show that indirect smelting was performed when the iron smelting by-products were produced. Based on the analysis results, it was confirmed that the Inje Bupyeong-ri site was the indirect smelting site in the Unified Silla period.

• KOMUNHWA
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• no.57
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• pp.77-111
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• 2001

I intend to show that if we pay attention to the symbolism and boundary of places which are associated with our daily lives, this will help us to understand the characteristics and background of the ancient sites, archaeological phenomenas. I will give as

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.411-427
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• 2015

The purpose of the present study is to examine the objects excavated from the archaeological site of the Nogye Village in terms of their relationships with the iron production facilities such as 1ho smithing hearth and 2ho smelting furnace. 32 samples including slags, iron ores, and wall were analyzed to identify the mineralogical and chemical characterization. In addition, in the case of the 1ho smithing hearth slag, differing points of the cross-section were analyzed to examine its formation in depth. The analysis results suggest that the slags from the each site adjacent to the 1ho smithing hearth and 2ho furnace are related to smithing and smelting process respectively. Furthermore, it is possible to draw some conclusions that the aspects of the increased contents of nonferrous elements such as CaO in the slags in comparison with those of the iron ores are due to various factors such as charcoal ash and analytical reasons rather than an addition of CaO as flux.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.171-182
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• 2010

The slag excavated from Gyesil-ri in Gongju, Yeonje-ri in Cheongwon and Beopcheonsaji (temple) site in Wonju are analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence Analyzer, metallurgical microscope, SEM-EDS etc., for chemical composition and microstructure to figure out the raw material and the iron manufacturing technique. First of all, as a result of principal component analysis, the total Fe-content of slag from Gyesil-ri is 39 to 44% and the modified rate is 15 to 21%, which is common in ancient iron slag. Yeonje-ri site is found the ancient iron-smelting furnace. The total Fe-content of slag from Yeonje-ri is 41 to 43% and modified rate is 18~30%, which is also the general value in the ancient slag. However only slag is excavated in the residential area at Beopcheonsaji site and there is no iron making relic. In addition, the result of principal component analysis contains that the total Fe-content of Beopcheonsaji site is 52 to 57%, and modified rate is 8 to 14%. It shows that the total Fe-content of Beopcheonsaji site is higher than relic from Gyesil-ri and Yeonje-ri and the modified rate is lower than other sites. This results mean that recollecting rate of Fe in Beopcheonsaji site is lower than other sites. Also, as a result of minor elements analysis, the slag from Gyesil-ri has the higher level of Ti, V and Zr than other sites and the microstructure are observed as magnetite and ulvospinel, so that the raw material of slag is iron sand. But the slag from Yeonje-ri and Beopcheonsaji site are identified to use iron ore. As a result of microstructure observation, fayalite, gray-columnar crystal, is found in the slag from Yeonje-ri and big wustite as main phase is observed in the slag from Beopcheonsaji site. This study show that the slag from Yeonje-ri is made of smelt ash produced during smelting works and the slag from Beopcheonsaji site is made of forging ash produced during forging work concerning the excavated location and the microstructure.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.519-532
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• 2017

Studies on ancient ironmaking technologies are primarily based on archaeological surveys and scientific analysis data, and technological systems are examined by comparing the results of restorative experiments. In this study, to examine the ancient iron production technologies such as smelting and smithing in the Jungwon area, a restoration experiment was conducted based on archaeological data, and the iron and slag, etc. produced in the experiment were analyzed. Further, the changes in physicochemical properties due to the smelting of the raw material, specifically, iron ore were determined, and the smithing process, which involves fabrication of ironwares, was analyzed along with the characteristics of each step. In the case of smelting, increasing recovery rates and production of high-quality primary iron material were important for the following processes. For the iron bars produced through the smithing process, it was found that quality improvements made by reducing physical defects such as inclusions or gas holes were more important than the composition of the iron itself. The study also yielded comparative study data for various byproducts, such as smithing slag, which could be utilized in other ironmaking technology studies.

• 한국문화재보존과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.163-164
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• 2005