Constant_Count_9497 t1_j61s6z2 wrote on January 27, 2023 at 2:29 AM

What exactly is the Roman Era they're referring to? Are they saying that romans invented Iron smelting?

I'd direct your research if you're willing towards ancient India and China. From my cursory investigation they were smelting iron before the founding Rome.

Edit- It also seems the person arguing that "blooming isn't really smelting" is arguing semantics. Since blooming is in fact a method of smelting

DontWakeTheInsomniac t1_j695pko wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:20 PM

Anyone claiming the Romans invented iron is hardly worth debating history with in fairness.

Constant_Count_9497 t1_j69bb9h wrote on January 28, 2023 at 5:57 PM

I'm more confused with their idea about "blooming" because from what I can tell it's clearly an early smelting technique involving heating the ore to purify it while smashing it

DontWakeTheInsomniac t1_j6anjrr wrote on January 28, 2023 at 11:36 PM

Yeah bloomeries were the earliest type of iron smelting furnaces (it's in the name!) so I don't understand it either.