This string on blacksmith floors has gotten me thinking.  I just excavated an
area behind a plantation house (1765-1882) that possessed a strange stratum
of rock-hard rust and coal concretions.  It took hours of chiseling to get
through this ca. 8 cm layer.  Sometimes coming out in chunks, but never
having any identifiable metal core, this presumed slag appears to be
about 70% unidentifiable iron and 30% coal & clinker.
 
Does anyone recognize this?  Is it blacksmith waste?  I presume whatever it
is was deposited as a "mud-step" or path behind the house, taking the place
of the gravel we lack here in Southeast Louisiana.
 
Any references on slag?
 
-- Shannon Dawdy
Greater New Orleans Archaeology Program
University of New Orleans
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