Crucible steel in Central Asia : production, use and origins
Central Asian crucible steel has been neglected in the scholarly literature in favour of Indian/Sri Lankan crucible steel (commonly called wootz). This is primarily because during the last few centuries Europeans frequently traded by sea, rather than via the overland route through Central Asia, with India and Sri Lanka where crucible steel was still being produced. The consequence of this was the assumption that the majority of crucible steel in Central Asia and the Middle East was imported from India and Sri Lanka. Moreover, the Central Asian crucible steel process is thought by many to be merely a variation of the Indian/Sri Lankan process. On the contrary, recently excavated archaeological evidence indicates that crucible steel was produced for centuries by a distinct process in various locations in Central Asia. This dissertation presents the first detailed investigation of crucible steel in Central Asia. The characteristics of Central Asian crucible steel production were primarily determined by laboratory analyses of archaeometallurgical remains excavated from an early Islamic (9th-10th century AD) crucible steel workshop from Merv, Turkmenistan. A selection of crucible steel production remains from Medieval
Feuerbach, Anna Marie
Archaeology
Crucible steel in Central Asia : production, use and origins. Central Asian crucible steel has been neglected in the scholarly literature in favour of Indian/Sri Lankan crucible steel (commonly called wootz). This is primarily because during the last few centuries Europeans frequently traded by sea, rather than via the overland route through Central Asia, with India and Sri Lanka where crucible steel was still being produced. The consequence of this was the assumption that the majority of crucible steel in Central Asia and the Middle East was imported from India and Sri Lanka. Moreover, the Central Asian crucible steel process is thought by many to be merely a variation of the Indian/Sri Lankan process. On the contrary, recently excavated archaeological evidence indicates that crucible steel was produced for centuries by a distinct process in various locations in Central Asia. This dissertation presents the first detailed investigation of crucible steel in Central Asia. The characteristics of Central Asian crucible steel production were primarily determined by laboratory analyses of archaeometallurgical remains excavated from an early Islamic (9th-10th century AD) crucible steel workshop from Merv, Turkmenistan. A selection of crucible steel production remains from Medieval
crucible steel central_asia production_use origin central_asian crucible steel neglect scholarly_literature favour indian sri_lankan crucible steel commonly call primarily europeans frequently trade sea rather via overland route central_asia india sri_lanka crucible steel still produce consequence assumption majority crucible steel central_asia middle_east import india sri_lanka moreover central_asian crucible steel process think many merely variation indian sri_lankan process contrary recently_excavate archaeological_evidence indicate crucible steel produce century distinct process various location central_asia present first_detailed investigation crucible steel central_asia characteristic central_asian crucible steel production primarily determine laboratory analysis archaeometallurgical remains excavate early_islamic crucible steel workshop turkmenistan selection crucible steel production_remain medieval