An Experimental Archaeological Study on Iron Sand Smelting in the Korean Peninsular

Abstract

The possibility of the use of iron sand smelting in the ancient Korean Peninsula has suggested in recent iron artifacts analysis study. In this study, an iron sand smelting experiment is conducted and a sword is reproduced based on known archeological materials. 22 kg of iron ingot was produced after smelting using 70 kg of iron sand from Gampo. Iron ingot folded and forged 15 times for removing impurities from it and then 2.52 kg of steel ingot was produced. Steel ingot was hammered, heated, annealed, quenched and tempered to make reproduced sword. To obtain the experimental archaeological data, the products of each stage of iron manufacture were analyzed. Gampo iron sand whose total Fe content was 66.10% contained titanium and vanadium. Iron ingot confirmed carbon steel and impurities could be removed by folding and forging. Steel ingot was hypoeutectoid steel that differ depending on the number of folding. The remained non-metallic inclusions as a form of slag were gradually removed over the repeated process of folding and forging. Non-metallic inclusions remaining in the sword were of a glass phase and found to contain titanium and vanadium. This supports the idea that when titanium and vanadium are found in non-metallic inclusions of a steel product, they are the result of iron sand smelting.