Chris,
First, I'm not an archaeometallurgist. But, I am an advocate for responsible
industrial archaeology. What follows is by no means an exhaustive reference
list. Part of the problem is finding many of the journals. I have found very few
university or other research libraries that carry them and inter library loan is
not always successful. To date, I have not found a good index to articles. I
have used the expedient of immediately turning to the bibliography of any article
I get and immediately doing an inter library loan request on anything that sounds
interesting. I would appreciate any suggestions for more efficient methods.
Another good place to seek help is the arch-metals list. It is a predominantly
European list, but the members are very helpful. The list's address is:
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In 1968 Ivor Noël Hume wrote Historical Archaeology: A comprehensive guide for
both amateurs and professionals to the techniques and methods of excavating
historical sites. In it he wrote :
In the excavation of domestic sites, archaeological competence must be coupled
with a general
understanding of the life of the period. But just about anything else we dig
requires relevant
specialized knowledge. I touched on this in the first chapter, but it cannot
be emphasized too
often. On a manufacturing site, we must understand the process involved and
be able
to identify both the components and the products... Some excavators may think
that
industrial sites are not of major historical importance, but I would strongly
disagree with
them. We live in a nation that takes pride in its technological supremacy,
and therefore the
history of American technology is just as worthy of our attention as
chronicles of battles,
parties, and politicians. It is a subject whose early chapters are
distressingly thin, largely
because the pioneers were more concerned with getting on with their work than
with
writing about it. [Noël Hume 1975:161-12]
It is reasonable, I hope, to assume that the director who plans to work on an
ironworking
complex extending from smelting and refining to mills for rolling and slitting
will first read
all available literature on the subject, both contemporary and modern.
[pp.178-79]
First and foremost I would encourage anyone contemplating working on an iron
related site to read Robert Gordon's American Iron (1996, Johns Hopkins)). And
for the record I do not get a commission on sales. Bob has also written a number
of excellent articles, papers, and books on the iron industry, metallography, and
slag analysis. These include:
1982 The metallurgical museum of Yale college and nineteenth century ferrous
metallurgy in New England. Journal of Metals (JOM) 34:26-33.
1983 Materials for manufacturing: the response of the Connecticut iron industry
to limited resources and technological change. Technology and Culture 24:602-34.
1988 Strength and structure of wrought iron. Archeomaterials 2:109-137.
1992 Industrial Archeology of American Iron and Steel. IA, The Journal of the
Society for Industrial Archeology, Vol. 18(1&2):5-18.
1995 Material Evidence of Ironmaking Techniques. IA, The Journal of the Society
for Industrial Archeology, Vol. 21(2):69-80.
1997 Process Deduced From Ironmaking Wastes and Artifacts. Journal of
Archaeological Science 24:9-18.
Gordon, Robert B. and David J. Killick
1993 Adaptation of technology to culture and environment: bloomery smelting in
America and Africa. Technology and Culture 34:243-70.
Gordon, Robert B. and Patrick M. Malone
1994 The Texture of Industry: An Archaeological View of the Industrial Revolution
of North America. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford.
Gordon, Robert B. and N. J. Van der Merwe
1984 Metallographic Study of Iron Artifacts from the Eastern Transvaal, South
Africa. Archaeometry 26:108-127.
Books and articles by other authors include:
Bachmann, Hans-Gert
1982 The Identification of Slags From Archaeological Sites. Institute of
Archaeology Occasional Publication No. 6. University of London, London.
Starley, David
1999 Determining the Technological Origins of Iron and Steel. Journal of
Archaeological Science 26:1127?1133.
Cleere, Henry, David Crossley, Bernard Worssam, and The Wealden Iron Research
Group
1995 The Iron Industry of the Weald. 2nd Edition, edited by Jeremy Hodgkinson.
Merton Priory Press, Cardiff.
Tylecote, R. F.
1962 Metallurgy in Archaeology: A Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles.
Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd., London.
1976 A History of Metallurgy. The Metals Society, London.
1980 Furnaces, Crucibles, and Slags. In The Coming of the Age of Iron, edited by
Theodore A. Wertime and James D. Muhly, pp. 183-228. Yale University Press, New
Haven and London.
1981 The Medieval Smith and His Methods. In Mediaeval Industry, edited by D. W.
Crossley, pp. 42-50. Council for British Archaeology Research Report No. 40,
Oxford.
1986 The Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles. The Institute of Metals,
London.
1987 The early history of metallurgy in Europe. Longman, London and New York.
1991 Iron in the Industrial Revolution. In The Industrial Revolution in Metals,
edited by R. F. Tylecote and Joan Day, pp. 200-260. The Institute of Metals,
London.
Much of Tylecote's material deals with non-ferrous metallurgy. Also most of it is
medieval and before, so it is of limited use on a 19th century American site.
Tylecote, R. F., J.M. Austin, and A.E. Wraith
1971 The Mechanism of the Bloomery Process in Shaft Furnaces. Journal of the Iron
and Steel Institute 209:342-363.
Tylecote, R. F. and Joan Day (editors)
1991 The Industrial Revolution in Metals, The Institute of Metals, London.
And for those who want to get really technical:
Turkdogan, E. T.
1983 Physiochemical properties of molten slags and glasses. The Metals Society,
London.
I am sure that Bob gordon (Yale) or Dave Killick (Arizona) could produce a more
focused list. My interest, at this point, is primarily 17/18th century.
Christopher Murphy wrote:
> Ned, Adrian, Jamie or others,
> We have a modest amount of slag on the site of the former Augusta Arsenal,
> but no systemic slag analysis program (we are careful not to dump it, but don't
> have any clear plan of what to do with it either).
>
> Would any of you who feel strongly about this care to suggest reference
> sources to guide those of us who are not well informed regarding
> archaeometallurgy. I, for one, would be happy to receive some guidance (on
> list or off) and I hope that Jamie will be publishing his upcoming paper or be
> willing to make copies available to interested parties. I will not be able to
> be at the SHA to hear it read.
>
> Chris Murphy
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