Abstract
Recent excavations of a Late to Post-Meroitic furnace workshop at Meroe, Sudan prompted questions concerning the use of some of its unusual design features and the nature of ironmaking practice. To begin addressing these questions, four iron smelting experiments were conducted in a purpose-built workshop modelled from the archaeological remains. Some of the goals of the campaign included identification and testing of potential ore and technical ceramic resources as well as the production of slag with characteristics that mirrored those of the archaeological deposits. The primary objective, however, was the further development of a model for Late to Post-Meroitic direct process iron production. Comparison of the microstructural and chemical characteristics of the archaeological and experimental ironmaking residues leads to a rejection of hypothesised ore sources adjacent to Meroe, support for hypothesised technical ceramic resource locations and a failure to replicate Late–Post-Meroitic smelting slag. However, the comparison also makes a strong contribution to the developing model of smelting practice at Meroe by emphasising the need to create more consistent redox conditions within the furnace, greater standardisation in preparing technical ceramics and the use of relatively lean ores (≈ 60 wt.% Fe).
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Acknowledgements
Permission for the research to be carried out at Meroe is granted by the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Sudan, and for their assistance and continual support, we are sincerely thankful. Fareed Alshishani, Loic Boscher and Tom Birch selected and prepared samples for microscopy with support from Philip Connelly. Carmen Ting offered insights on ceramic selection and Robert Bussert made valuable comments about the local Geology of Meroe. Frank Stremke prepared the project map. Special thanks go to smelters Jake Keen and Lee Sauder for conducting the experiments and Suleiman Awad Suleiman, Thomas Scheibner and Saskia Büchner for constant and multifaceted assistance throughout the project. Comments made by two anonymous reviewers have helped us clarify many key points. Finally, the field team working in Sudan and the local communities around Meroe are thanked for their patience and support.
Funding
A number of organisations provide collaborations and funding through with various aspects of this research have been greatly assisted. These include the Qatar-Sudan Archaeology Project (grant 037), UCL Qatar, the University of Khartoum, and the British Institute in Eastern Africa. Michael Charlton’s participation and research was supported by a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (PIIF-GA-2013-624448) within the 7th European Community Framework Programme as part of the IRONWORKS project.
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Charlton, M., Humphris, J. Exploring ironmaking practices at Meroe, Sudan—a comparative analysis of archaeological and experimental data. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 895–912 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0578-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0578-2