THE ANCIENT IRON SMELTING IN SG. BATU, BUJANG VALLEY, KEDAH (original) (raw)
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Quantum Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
This archaeological experiment study of furnace, tuyere and bellow making to conduct iron smelting experiments is aimed at obtaining information related to the iron smelting process that is likely to have been carried out in Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex. This archaeological experiment study was conducted through a knowledge transfer program (KTP) at the Sungai Batu Complex conducted in 2013 involving 18 participants and two instructors. This experiment involves the use of soil taken in the Sungai Batu river to produce furnaces and tuyere while bellow are made from wood, plywood and cloth. The raw material of iron smelting, namely iron ore, was taken after the survey activities were carried out near Kampung Batu 5, UiTM Merbok and Tupah Hill areas while the charcoal for iron smelting was used by rubber wood in the rubber plantation near the Sungai Batu Archaeological Complexs. The iron smelting experiments conducted have shown the difference in smelting results with the discove...
Iron-smelting Sites and Activities in Prehistoric Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, the Bronze Age began in the 11 th century BCE. by transferring the technique from Chou China. The Iron Age commenced in the 5 th century BCE. and spread by the 3 rd century BCE. in Southeast Asia. When iron was introduced, people accepted iron as new metal which shined silver color different from bronze that had gold or yellow color, and used iron as ornament's material such as necklace, bangle and ring. They changed to use iron as material for everyday life tools such as tool, farming tool and weapon with the spread of iron. At the moment it is not clear whether iron technique was independently originated in Southeast Asia or it was introduced from the outside such as China and India Iron slag that showed iron-smelting activities were conducted are distributed in many places in Southeast Asia, however three iron-smelting sites were so far excavated only in Thailand and Malaysia. There are two types of iron tools in prehistoric Southeast Asia. One is those made of wrought iron and another is cast iron tools imported from Han China. They produced wrought iron by using a cylindrical furnace, but did not make cast iron because of no ability to make high temperature. The iron-smelting furnace operated before the Common Era was small cylindrical one of shaft type made by clay. After the Common Era they changed to build a bigger one made by clay and bricks.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
The region around Phnom Dek in Northern Cambodia represents a vast metallurgical landscape with evidence for mining and smelting of iron spanning over a millennium of smelting activities (7th to 20th centuries CE). Research conducted over the past decade in this region has expanded our understanding of the resources, production , technological evidence and furnace structures used during the Angkor period (11 th c.-14 th c.). In December 2018, a first experimental attempt at reducing iron ore mined from the historic source at Phnom Dek was conducted at the Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) Center in Siem Reap/Angkor (Cambodia). The experimental research was designed to achieve several interconnected objectives. The aim of our study is not only to address technical questions relative to the metallurgical traits of the furnace and the metallurgical process employed during the late Angkor period, but also to provide new data to clarify the interpretations resulting from the provenance and iron dating analyses that assist in interpretations relating to production and consumption practices. Both the archaeological evidence and ethnographic descriptions were combined to reproduce the experimental furnace. This paper summarizes the preliminary results and provides information on the late Angkorian smelting process and on the accuracy and variabilities of the archaeometric data including prove-nance and iron dating.