An international group of archaeologists led by researchers from the University of Freiburg (Germany) has discovered that steel tools were used in Europe much earlier than historians thought – about 2,900 years ago. This is reported in an article published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Geochemical analyzes have shown that stone obelisks in the Iberian Peninsula dating to the late Bronze Age, with intricate carvings depicting human figures, animals, weapons, ornaments, and chariots, could only be made of hardened steel. This was confirmed by metallographic analysis of an iron chisel from the same site in Portugal and from about 900 BC. The artifact turned out to contain carbon impurities specific to steel.
This conclusion was also experimentally confirmed by the participation of a professional mason, blacksmith and bronze smelter who tried to work the stone from which the stelae were made. It turned out that only a sharpened steel sharpener is suitable for stone carving.
Historians have assumed that in the late Bronze Age and even early Iron Age people did not know how to produce steel of sufficient quality and it did not become common in Europe until the Roman Empire. Early metallurgy in Portugal, including the production and tempering of steel, probably developed in decentralized local communities in Iberia rather than under the influence of later colonization processes. Source
Source: Port Altele
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