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在漫长的人类史中,铁器时代占有重要的地位,而早期铁器时代的炼铁技术则更值得研究和探索。本文是麻省理工学院的S.特里·乔尔兹写于上世纪80年代的一篇实验性研究文章。其中阐述了对于东非坦桑尼亚卡盖拉地区早期铁器时代炼铁所选用黏土的实验过程以及研究结果。作者长期在卡盖拉地区进行考察,并通过田野采集、实验分析和测试焙烧的方法对该地区早期铁器时代炼铁熔炉的材质选择进行了研究。结果表明,卡盖拉地区的史前炼铁工人对于建炉材质有着自己的认识,他们会选择耐火性较高的黏土来建造可能会承受极高温度的部分,如焙烧中心、风口末端,并且已经掌握了通过向黏土添加瘠性掺合料,从而提高黏土的耐火性并防止其在极端高温中膨胀、破裂、剥落。同时,他们在材料黏土的耐火性、稳定性和可获得性方面进行了权衡。他们并不完全依赖从远处沼泽地区采集的高品质黏土,而是更多地选择居住环境周围容易获得的沙质黏土和白蚁冢。通过向其中添加掺合料,这些材料同样在建炉过程中取得了良好的效果。本文的研究揭示出非洲早期铁器时代的炼铁工人对材料黏土的选择方式和依据,说明了他们非常重视综合考量,权衡技术控制、劳动效率和材料可获得性等诸方面因素,从而对于制铁资源做出了合理的折衷选择。
In the long history of mankind, the Iron Age occupies an important position, while the early Iron Age iron making technology is more worthy of study and exploration. This article is an experimental research article written by S. Terry Childs of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1980s. It describes the experimental process and the results of the study on the clay used in the early Iron Age Ironmaking in Kagera, Tanzania, East Africa. The author has been inspected in the area of Kagera for a long period of time and has studied the material selection of early iron age ironmaking furnaces in the area through field collection, experimental analysis and test roasting methods. The results show that prehistoric ironworkers in Kagera area have their own knowledge of furnace construction materials and they would choose clay with higher fire resistance to build parts that could withstand very high temperatures such as roasting centers, tuyere ends, and already Mastered the addition of barren admixtures to the clay to improve the fire resistance of the clay and prevent it from expanding, cracking and peeling at extreme temperatures. At the same time, they weigh the fire resistance, stability and availability of material clays. Instead of relying entirely on the high-quality clay collected from distant marsh areas, they are more likely to choose sandy clays and termite mounds that are readily available around the living environment. By adding admixtures to these materials, these materials have also achieved good results during furnace construction. This study reveals the ways and basis for the choice of materials clay by ironmakers in the early Iron Age in Africa. It shows that they attach great importance to comprehensive considerations, trade-offs between technical control, labor efficiency and material availability, etc., Resources make a reasonable compromise choice.