3,000-Year-Old Discovery Reveals Surprising Clues to What May Have Accidentally Sparked the Dawn of the Iron Age

The Debrief ^ | September 29, 2025 | Tim McMillan

[SunkenCiv]

In a fascinating twist of ancient chemistry, copper-smelting artisans may have stumbled upon a technique that would eventually lead to the intentional extraction of iron from ore, a discovery that was both accidental and revolutionary.

A fresh analysis of slag, ores, and furnace residues from the 3,000-year-old site of Kvemo Bolnisi, Georgia, is rewriting the story of how humankind first learned to make iron.

A team of researchers from Cranfield University in England, reexamining old finds from Kvemo Bolnisi using modern techniques, suggests that what had once been labeled an early iron-smelting site was actually a copper workshop that utilized iron oxides as a flux...

The site at Kvemo Bolnisi was first excavated during the 1960s. Early archaeologists recorded significant stockpiles of hematite (an iron oxide) alongside smelting slags, which led them to conclude that this workshop had been an early iron smelter...

By studying the microstructure of the slag and residual phases, the researchers demonstrate that the iron oxides behaved as a "flux," a substance added to the smelting mix to help separate impurities and improve copper yield, rather than forming new iron metal.

In effect, the smelters were tinkering with iron-bearing minerals to optimize their copper output. However, that level of experimentation suggests a sophistication that may have seeded the later invention of iron smelting proper...

Instead of seeing copper and iron technologies as being sequential, the Cranfield study weaves them together. In that sense, the Iron Age might owe a kind of accidental debt to copper artisans who were seeking better yields, rather than a new metal.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: aliens; bevmo; copper; godsgravesglyphs; iron; ironage; kvemobolnisi; metallurgy; republicofgeorgia

[GingisK]

Near where I once lived in Kentucky where three iron furnaces that also operated during the Civil War. They drained the iron into molds dug into the ground because the prevalent rock there was limestone. Limestone decomposes at the temperature of molten iron.

I thrive on that kind of history. If I get over to Virginia those parks will be "must see" locations.

I numbs my mind that they could deal with that much weight at those temperatures. Casting a Columbiad cannon must have been a hoot, not to mention fitting it to a carriage.

[central_va]

They transported the iron ingots to the railhead in these really strong looking wagons. From there the iron was sent to the Tredegar Iron Works located in Richmond.

[GingisK]

If you ever see a description of the manufacturing process at Tredegar, grab it, and post it!

[central_va]

You can take tours of the Tredegar Iron Works.
https://www.usa-civil-war.com/Tredegar/tredegar_vst.shtml

[central_va]

Elizabeth Furnace

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Furnace

[GingisK]

I live in Georgia. It sounds like a terrific road trip!

[central_va]

This time of year the Shenandoah Valley is really nice.