At 11:23 AM 1/23/96 -0500, Jason Menard wrote:
 
>        Slag can take many forms, from what you described, greyish, burnt,
>vitrifed in places, to forms that basically look like lava rock, for lack
>of a better descriptor, ranging from black, to rustish brown. I've even
>seen iron slag that glassy-green in color, almost completely vitrified-
>although this may be the result of workers tossing in items into the forge
>in operation, and not from the content of the ore used.
 
I'm interested in the "glassy-green in color, almost completely vitrified"
material mentioned in association with iron slag and forge operations. I
have been told that this may be the by-product of using a limestone flux in
the forging process, or perhaps in combination with limestone linings of the
forges themselves. Does anyone have any further information about the
archaeological association, context, and physical structure of this
glassy-green slag? Is it usually found with metal forging features? Has it
also been observed in  other high temperature manufacturing contexts such as
cement, ceramic, or glass making?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
--Lenny__