pip. n'o^" 2lY' JOHN H. KERR RESERVOIR BASIN — MILLER 295 



Both the chemical composition aud the microstructural characteristics of the 

 material bespeak considerable age; it appears that the material studied was 

 made at a time when the only known method of production was by "direct re- 

 duction" of local ores and nearby fuel which was probably charcoal. Local ores 

 showed wide variation in composition, as a rule, and the analyses are a reflection 

 of the variation of the ores from which they were reduced. 



It is also of interest to mention in connection with the microstructure observed 

 that high carbon areas such as those found are generally associated with wrought 

 irons made by "direct reduction," inasmuch as the control which was exercised 

 at that early period did not recognize nor include an ability to prevent localized 

 carbon al)Sorption by the metallic iron initially formed in the reduction process. 

 [Communication dated December 24, 1953.] 



Going over the sites, personally, the writer found comparatively 

 little slag, and no evidence of any furnaces was visible on any of these 

 sites. Whether the iron was of local manufacture or transported into 

 the area from some outside source could not be determined. 



Seeking further information on the production of "wrought iron" 

 the Encyclopedia Britannica was consulted. This source states : 



The principal iron ores are the oxides and carbonates, and these readily yield 

 the metal by smelting with carbon. The metal so obtained invariably contains 

 a certain amount of carbon, free or combined, and the proportion and condition 

 regulate the properties of the metal, giving origin to the three important varie- 

 ties: cast iron, steel, wrought iron. [Euc. Brit., 1929, vol. 12, p. 645.] 



Iron is very reactive chemically. Exposed to atmospheric influences it is 

 more or less rapidly corroded, giving the familiar rust. For the production of 

 rust, the presence of water and oxygen does not seem to be suflBcient, and an 

 "impurity" seems to be essential ; this is provided in the iron itself or by the 

 presence of carbon dioxide. ... It dissolves in most dilute acids with the 

 liberation of hydrogen. [Ibid., p. 646.] 



Few implements of iron or steel survive for many years before they rust away, 

 consequently there is little direct evidence to prove the point: nevertheless the 

 antiquity of iron smelting is great. . . . Steel working and hardening, an ad- 

 vanced stage in the art which doubtless required centuries to reach, was com- 

 mon 3,000 years ago in Greece, and is mentioned by Homer. 



The primitive methods which survive in the Catalan forge require a mixture 

 of charcoal and iron ore selected for its purity. The whole is heated for several 

 hours while a vigorous blast of air fans the fire, thereupon the ore becomes an 

 incandescent sponge of metal : the clay or other minerals mixed with the iron 

 oxide together with the charcoal ash, sinter into a slag, permeating the sponge 

 and protecting the freshly reduced iron from further chemical action. After a 

 given time, the furnace is broken into, the glowing ball of iron pulled out, and 

 immediately, while still white hot, hammered vigorously to expel as much of the 

 slag as possible, and to weld the hot particles of metal into a coherent mass. 



With various changes in the furnace details, and in methods of producing the 

 air blast, these methods produced all the iron available from the beginning up 

 to the 14th century. It was truly a wrought iron. [Ibid, p. 649.] 



Knowing that this section of Virginia and North Carolina contain 

 small residual iron-bearing deposits which could be rather easily 

 gathered, treated, and reduced by direct reduction methods and also 

 that most of the land suitable for cultivation has been intensively 



