Reconstitution of the operating chain in Paleo-iron and steel metallurgy from the archaeological remains : comparative studies with the African ethno-archaeology

Abstract

The reconstitution or the operating chain in paleo-iron and steel metallurgy from the ore up to the piece based on archaeological European remains is particularly complicated. The archaeoometric methodological means are numerous (metallography, mineralogy, petrography, chemical analysis and so on). However it is from the data collected with these many means that we can define some values allowing us to approach the distinction between iron and steel metallurgy processes. This article intends to illustrate this aspect using studies made on African ethnoarchaeological remains (Burkina-Faso and Mali). Indeed, such comparative studies show at least two points of first importance: - age-long existence of the African iron and steel metallurgy as authenticated by many archaeological remains; - everlastingness of the know-how associated with direct reduction. Our research works show that those remains are used as a capital value in archaeology and archaeometry. On the one hand they allow us to refine the significance of some discriminative values in terms of functional specialization (reduction, refining forge, working out forge) and on the other hand to define the technico-social organization inherent to the breaking up of the various iron and steel melallurgy activities in the operating chain.

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