Did Anglo-Saxons Invent Steel?
Steel could be 800 years older than previously thought
Researchers in West Yorkshire think they have found evidence that steel was produced 800 years earlier than previously thought.
Dr Gerry McDonnell and Ivan Mack from the University of Bradford believe Saxons who lived in England more than 1,000 years ago used the same type of high quality steel that made it famous during the Industrial Revolution.
The ingots were discovered in the ancient buried port of Hamwic, now called Southampton.
"This turns the conventional idea about early iron-making on its head," said Mr McDonnell.
"It proves that blacksmiths made high-quality, clean steel a thousand years before Huntsman's developments in Sheffield in the 1740s."
The fist-sized chunk of metal was most likely developed as a small nugget of steel that was would have been made into knives and other tools, reports the Human Oasis website.
Research indicates the steel used is two to three times stronger than other techniques of the time.
"This steel was only probably made in small quantities and was very expensive," added Mr McDonnell.
"When the demand for steel increased in the Middle Ages, mass production of poor quality metal forced out the higher-quality product."
The discovery was made as part of research carried out by the Ancient Metallurgy Research group of Archaeological Science.
Story filed: 22:16 Wednesday 4th July 2001
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_344415.html
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