TRACES OF TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION LEADING TO THE IRON AGE FOUND IN GEORGIA

Archaeologists have established that around 1200 BCE in the mountains of Southern Georgia, copper smelters accidentally laid the foundation for iron smelting technology, which changed the course of world metallurgy.
New research showed that one of the most important technological discoveries occurred more than 3,000 years ago at the settlement of Kvemo Bolnisi in modern Georgia. The metalworkers of the time, while trying to improve copper production, used iron-bearing minerals in their furnaces, a step that became the foundation for the development of iron metallurgy.
A team of scientists from Cranfield University (England) analyzed slag, ore, and furnace remains. It was previously thought to be an early iron-smelting workshop, but the research showed the furnace was used for melting copper, with iron oxides used as fluxes.
According to the lead author, Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, metallurgists of that era were aware of the properties of iron compounds and experimented with them. These attempts, although not aimed at producing iron, played a decisive role in the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
Scientists note that in antiquity, metallic iron was extremely rare and mostly of meteoric origin. Developing the technology for smelting it from ore required new knowledge of chemistry and improved furnaces. The experiments of the Georgian artisans became an important step on this path, bringing humanity closer to the start of the Iron Age.
The research results were published in The Debrief.