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Post by **Minimalist** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:20 pm

oh well, do you see the plausibility of these structures

being roasting/smelting furnaces?

My first thought was a sink with a drain but I can't imagine why someone would go to all that trouble to make a sink.

My second consideration was that someone could attach bellows to a pipe leading to that center hole and use it to force air into a fire thereby making it hot enough to smelt iron, so, yeah, with that caveat I can see it as a possibility.

I am reasonably positive that it is NOT a Bosnian pyramid.

Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Thu May 18, 2006 7:40 pm

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Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu May 18, 2006 7:47 pm

I have been wondering what Minimalists' real name was.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:03 pm

Charlie, you are starting to worry me. If you keep this up you'll never be able to go back to Anarchaeology!

Beagle, I think I'm going to usurp Edward the I's nickname....The Hammer of the Scots.

I'll be The Hammer of arch.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:10 pm

Gonna be your new user name? I can just see folks googling that to figure out where you're coming from.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:18 pm

That's a good idea.

Hey, Charlie, take a look at this.

http://www.ironsmelting.net/www/smelting/index.html

When an archaeologist excavates remains of iron production, the assemblage of finds will mainly consist of slag and clay. Both form integral and inseparable parts of the full metallurgical process. The chemistry and mechanics of smelting iron influence and determine properties and composition of the slag that they produce and interact with and change the clay used for the furnace. Alternatively, the slag and the clay play an important role in the reduction of iron ore. This inevitably means that, to identify and interpret slag and furnace remains, one has to understand the basic technology of iron production as a whole.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:31 pm

or....

http://www.advancedmaterialsassoc.com/P ... c_book.pdf

It's an Adobe file which makes it a pain in the ass to quote but on page 18 there is a discussion of the use of stone furnaces in India.[/quote]

Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Fri May 19, 2006 9:10 am

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Post by **Minimalist** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:07 am

A 'little buzzed?'

You were crocked, Charlie!

Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:11 am

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Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:08 am

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Post by **Minimalist** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:20 am

Sometime, Charlie, you have to do an experiment for me.

Take a big piece of flint and drop it from a cliff, as if it had broken off and fallen naturally. Then, sift through the resulting debris and see if anything looks like any of those tools you have there.

I still share Leona's skepticism that sometimes a rock is just a rock until someone picks it up and uses it as a hammer.

Charlie Hatchett · Post by **Charlie Hatchett** » Sun May 21, 2006 1:39 pm

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stan · Post by **stan** » Sun May 21, 2006 2:51 pm

I think you have something there, Charlie.
THe consistencies in the types, as well as the
flaking patterns on some of them convince me.

Post by **Minimalist** » Sun May 21, 2006 4:27 pm

I won't pretend to be a flint knapper but from time to time with my muskets I have run into situations while shooting where my flint either wears out or breaks. In such instances I have been able to take the remaining stone and crack it in such a way that it is usable for a few more shots. Flint has a tendency to break along certain planes and when it does it is sharp as hell. You do not want to run your finger along it to see how sharp it can get! Now, someone who knows flint knapping can see these planes and knows how to strike the stone to get exactly the shape they want out of it. However, if I can hit one with a piece of quartz or a wrench and get a useful flint for a spark it still seems as if an accident could create a flint 'tool' with a useful edge.

Such accidents of course would not explain sites where there are scores of flint tools but it still seems as if it is possible to create one by natural methods.