Any one an expert on the subject
Any advice on were to reasearch further

www.forntidateknik.z.se/IFT/MNTarb/2003/mastermyr%20fynd%20file.doc

could be of some use

Interesting subject. Have been an amateur student of ancient (and historic) metal working for many years, and for a time about 15 years ago did some hobbiest blacksmithing while living in California. Hope you get some response to this.

I do remember reading from web searches of ancient Chinese and Mesopotamian (sp?) iron working, as well as Catalan forges from the region of what is now Spain, and some of the work done there. Very primative by our standards, but functional and remarkably ingenious for the period. Seem to recall something about establishing forges in mountain pass locations to make use of prevailing winds for providing the blast for the furnace.

Will have to look back to see if I can locate a few sites concerning this. Might consider using search terms such as "ancient metalworking" or similar (if you haven't already)

Haven't been able to practice the art (hobby, trade, craft or whatever) since moving to Alaska in 1990. Haven't been able to find a residence that is amenable to having a forge, though doubtless many such have been located here. Doing a little research on gold rush era blacksmithing in the Fairbanks area now.

Look forward to further posts and good luck

Ouzinki

the best sources of info on viking sword manufacturing and metallurgy can be found here:
http://www.learninglab.kth.se/sword/programme.jsp

You will need to write to the various museum curators and experts personally.
Its an interesting subject and worth taking a look at.

you know most people think that the japanese made the finest swords, but their european counterparts made swords and blades of equal quality. in fact the japanese were actually behind the game.

what makes the japanese swords so famous is the "folding" and "laminating" of the steels. the romans were doing this, and indeed the viking swordsmiths made use of laminating and folding techniques very early.

the sword in japanese culture was sacred, never to be resheathed without drawing blood in some cases, other swords are said to posess spiritual qualities, and revered.

lamintaing involves sandwiching a higher carbon steel between two pieces of lower carbon steels. then the blade was smeared with a clay like substance which when heat treated and quenched, produced a differential hardening process that kept the blade hard while allowing the sides and back to be softer and "give" more.

folding is so un origional, everybody was doing it. you take a big lump of iron from the smelter. heat it and hammer it. while this is taking place, carbon is being introduced to the iron. this makes iron carbide or "steel" steel has been around as long as iron has. when you make or forge iron as long as you are burning wood or coal, steel is being made. so anyway as you hammer the lump of iron into a flat piece, you fold it over on itself, so it gets longer. then hammer some more. then re fold over. you could draw out the steel with glancing blows or a cross peen hammer to avoid the folding, but then it wouldnt be as high a quality steel, as it wouldnt have been worked and heated as much.

anyways, the vikings were fantastic smiths. they seemed greta because no one had seen such greatness since the romans. now they were the real advanced civ.