tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24863457.post2087377681618809910..comments2024-03-23T14:17:37.033-04:00Comments on Hammered Out Bits: Icelandic / Hals Iron Smelt - full buildthe Wareham Forgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584324650436543045noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24863457.post-66739106898690462262015-07-03T11:25:20.318-04:002015-07-03T11:25:20.318-04:00Pretty interesting exploration of the least requir...Pretty interesting exploration of the least required to build a smelter. Neil's thoughts that this implies how unstable the [unlined earth] walls must have been isn't really a surprise. The turf used for the walls of the furnaces at Háls, according to the archaeological evidence, were lined internally with clay. Given how uncommon clay is in Iceland and how far it may have had to be carried to the site, and how small the *preserved* fragments are (after 1000 years of intense freeze/thaw cycles) there's no reason to suspect this was a thick layer of clay but this test seems clearly to have demonstrated without it that the intense heat of the smelt would have baked the soil walls dry, making them collapse...as one would expect. I'm actually mostly shocked how little collapsed in the course of your smelt, rather than that it did!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410938199435645118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24863457.post-87193275815148267532015-06-22T17:54:17.528-04:002015-06-22T17:54:17.528-04:00One minor correction. The dry earth walls did not...One minor correction. The dry earth walls did not collapse as the charcoal burned away (implies the charcoal was holding the walls up). In fact as the charcoal went down we saw only minor shifts in the walls (photos show this). If it had been the charcoal supporting it then as the charcoal kept settling it should have constantly pulled the walls down with it.<br /><br />What was significant is that as the walls began to cool large amounts of the dirt started to fall. To me that implies how unstable the walls must have been.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16603072380451991431noreply@blogger.com