Archaeological and historical remains are visible material witnesses of the steel industry. They bear witness to this technical history ranging from the remains of the search for raw materials to the obtaining of finished products.

Ancient iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa has been the focus of interest of several disciplines.

Ancient iron metallurgy in Burkina Faso, Bulkiemdé province [microform]: ethnological, historical, archaeological and metallographic approach.

In all countries of sub-Saharan Africa, archaeological remains of iron metallurgy have been discovered. No country in Africa has remained on the sidelines of this technical revolution.

The manufactures of Iron are entitled to pre-eminent rank. None are more essential in their kinds, nor so extensive in their uses. They constitute, in whole, or in part, the implements or the materials, or both, of almost every useful occupation. Their instrumentality is every, where conspicuous. It is fortunate for the United States that they have peculiar advantages for deriving the full benefit of this most valuable material, and they have every motive to improve it with systematic care. It is to be found in various parts of the United States, in great abundance, and of almost every quality; and fuel, the chief instrument in manufacturing it, is both cheap and plenty.

The earliest applications of chemical processes were concerned with the extraction and working of metals and the manufacture of pottery. ...The irruption of an iron using race or races into Mediterranean sites ...introduced the Iron Age... but many of the oldest arts still survived in almost their original form. The potter, for example, still used nearly the same materials and appliances as Neolithic man.

During the colonial period, circle monographs, reports by colonial administrators, geologists, amateurs, etc. also provide information that can often prove decisive in the collection of preliminary data. Within these, metallurgist sites are often indicated on maps and photographs. Authors also describe metallurgical industries. This approach most often allows for the establishment of an initial general mapping of archaeological sites and thus an assessment of the wealth of metallurgical sites in the study area in order to prepare field surveys.

I come to a world of iron to make a world of gold.

...for iron of itself draws a man
thereto.

Antiques exist as evidence of the cultural tracks we made in the past.

The furnaces belong to two different technical traditions which are also local variants of the two ancient traditions highlighted at Siola (KAN 1 and 2).

We have incredible archaeological sites in this country and we frequently recover new and exciting data.

Iron and heat are... the supporters, the bases, of the mechanic arts.

The alternative thesis (Chakrabarti 1977), that iron smelting was developed in the subcontinent, rests on two principal arguments. First, iron ore is found across the length and the breadth of India, outside alluvial plains, in quantities that were certainly viable for exploitation by the primitive methods observable even in this century (Ball 1881; Elwin 1942). Ample opportunities thus existed for experimentation, although given the complexity or iron smelting this is not a conclusive point. The second argument, that the earliest evidence for iron comes from the peninsula and not from the northwest, is much more persuasive, even if better examples than quoted by Chakrabarti can be adduced in support of it. Briefly, while the dating of Phase II of Nagda (the earliest iron bearing level) depends on ceramic analogies, and the stratigraphy of Ahar (another site which is claimed to have produced evidence for iron) is hopelessly muddled, the testimony of radiocarbon dates is instructive.