斯里兰卡古代自然风冶铁

An Ancient Wind-powered Iron Smelting Technology in Sri Lanka

本文以斯里兰卡撒马纳拉瓦瓦(Samanalawewa)冶铁遗址为例,通过实验考古的方法复原了斯里兰卡古代的自然风冶铁技术。研究表明,该冶铁技术与缅甸、日本等地关联密切,而与印度冶炼体系并无联系。对炉渣的金相分析表明,该遗址在7—11世纪已能大规模生产块炼铁及少量的高碳钢。为古代斯里兰卡在南亚以及非洲东海岸地区的海上贸易与高碳钢流通提供了最早的田野证据。

This paper restores the ancient wind-powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka by experimental archaeology,using the iron smelting site discovered at Samanalawewa of Sri Lanka as an example.The results indicate that its iron smelting technology is not related to the Indian system,but similar to those at Burma and Japan.By analyzing the slags from the site,it shows that this site was capable to produce large amount of low-carbon iron and small amount of high-carbon steels as late as the 7th to the 11th century AD.The data presented here provide the earliest dated field evidence from South Asia for the industrialized production of high-carbon steel.