Conférencier：Prof. Brice GIRBAL（Assistant Professor National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan）

Titre : The Technological Context of Crucible Steel Manufacture Recent Archaeological Research in Northern Telangana, South India


Date : Mardi 11 juin 2019, 15:00.
Lieu : Salle 703, Institut d'histoire et philologie, Academia Sinica, Taipei

Résumé:
The innovation of crucible steel, a high-carbon, homogeneous, slag-free steel, is regarded as a milestone in the history of the development of ferrous metallurgy. Associated in popular literature with the making of swords, particularly in the Early Islamic period, crucible steel, also known as wootz, possesses exceptional properties of hardness and strength. While much is now understood about its metallurgical composition and structure, little is known of its origins and spread.

Instigated by 17th to 19th century accounts of crucible steel production by European explorers and scientists in Telangana – known then as the kingdom of Golconda (c. AD 1518 – 1687) and later the state of Hyderabad (c. AD 1724 – 1948) – a major reconnaissance survey took place in 2010 as part of the Pioneering Metallurgy Project. As well as incorporating special sites of interest such as modern blacksmith workshops and possible iron ore sources, the survey focused on the recording and sampling of 101 archaeometallurgical sites. These consisted primarily of heaped smelting and crucible steel remains (slags and technical ceramics) concentrated around the numerous rural villages and agricultural fields of Karimnagar district, northern Telangana, South India.

The present study tackled the assessment of the large body of field data and the recording of the technological waste assemblage collected. By combining detailed morphological analyses of the collected materials and contextual information recorded during field survey, a better understanding of the techno-cultural role of crucible steel was gained. Technological variations were identified across the survey area and the inter-relationship between iron smelting and crucible steel was assessed. The evidence points to a widespread crucible steel production industry with varying degrees of site specialisation, indicating that it was perhaps more common than the few isolated sites generally referred to in the literature suggests.

This presentation will introduce the rich archaeological record of this little know region focusing on the diversity of its past metallurgical production and tying the study’s results within a broader discussion on the development and spread of crucible steel from the 6th to 19th centuries.



Organisateurs :
- EFEO Taipei Center
- Institute of history and philology, Academia Sinica

La conférence est donnée en anglais.

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