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Sharada Srinivasan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Metal Craft Heritage of Cauvery and Riverine Regions (NIAS/HUM/HSS/U/RR/02/2020)
2020Co-Authors: Sharada SrinivasanAbstract:India has a rich repository of surviving crafts practices that hark back several centuries with unbroken traditions. The Cauvery basin occupies a large geographic region spanning three states across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala. This region has in its own way represented an inter-linked geographic and cultural ecosystem. This rich repository of artisanal technologies is explored, particularly in the areas of metalworking and with respect to their connection to the local natural and cultural setting. These include the copper alloy image casting tradition of the Thanjavur district and Swamimalai, following the famed medieval Chola legacy of metal icons; the making of bells and lamps in Nacharkoil and the tradition of Thanjavur Swami plate repousse work. The rare craft of making mirrors of high-tin delta bronze (33% tin) in the village Aranmula, Kerala, which was also affected in the 2018 floods around the Pampa river is also discussed. Surviving blacksmithy practices in the regions around the Godavari river in Telangana and Tiruvannamali region of Tamil Nadu are touched upon which also supported traditions of high-carbon wootz Crucible Steel making in antiquity. Thus, some insights into the survival status and glimpses into the rich techno-cultural milieu of senior master craftspeople following various artisanal traditions are obtained.
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Ultrahigh-carbon “wootz” from Crucible carburization of molten iron: Hypereutectoid Steel from “Tamil Nadu Process” at Mel-siruvalur
Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 2016Co-Authors: Sharada SrinivasanAbstract:ABSTRACTAs European and Mediterranean accounts indicate, India has been famed for the production of Steel, apparently made by Crucible processes. Late medieval traveler’s accounts record the making of “wootz” Steel in several places in southern India. This material was used for the fabled Damascus swords, which were later found to be of ultrahigh-carbon Steel. Whereas studies on Asian Crucible Steel making from India, Central Asia and Sri Lanka have discussed various processes ranging from co-fusion of cast iron and wrought iron to solid-state carburization of wrought iron, it has been difficult to find clear evidence relating to an end product of ultrahigh-carbon Steel. In this light, the archeometallurgical evidence from Mel-siruvalur in Tamil Nadu, presented in this paper, is significant in that it shows unmistakable remnants in Crucibles of ultrahigh-carbon, hyper-eutectoid Steel, with a likely production mechanism of molten carburization of wrought iron to Steel. The favorable comparison with ultrahi...
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Northern Telangana, an Iron and Crucible Steel Production Landscape in India
ISIJ International, 2014Co-Authors: Gillian Juleff, Sharada Srinivasan, Sriperumbudur Jaikishan, Srinivas Ranganathan, Brian J.j. GilmourAbstract:Northern Telangana now lies in the remote rural heartland of India but is world renowned for its role in the past as a region of iron and Crucible Steel production, recorded in historical accounts and field investigations by first Thelma Lowe and then S. Jaikishan. In 2010 a joint team from University of Exeter and NIAS (National Institute of Advanced Studies), Bangalore, carried out a six-week archaeological field survey in the area that recorded 245 locations of which 183 are associated with metal-working. Locations of primary iron smelting dominated the survey results, with Crucible Steel manufacture forming c. 20% of the records. Further analysis is needed to resolve variations in smelting technologies but differences can be observed between smelting locations within settlements and those in more remote forested areas. A wide range of technologies are indicated by differences in tuyere size and shape, and techniques of furnace wall construction. The Crucible Steel-making locations show at least two different traditions using small, thin-walled Crucibles and large, conical-lidded Crucibles. This paper describes a preliminary assessment of the survey data.
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The significance of wootz Steel to the history of materials science
2011Co-Authors: Sharada Srinivasan, S RanganathanAbstract:The melting of Steel proved to be a challenge in antiquity on account of the high melting point of iron. In the 1740s Benjamin Huntsman successfully developed a technique of producing Steel that allowed it to be made on a much larger commercial scale and was credited with the discovery of Crucible Steel. However, Cyril Stanley Smith brought to wider attention an older tradition of Crucible Steel from India, i.e. wootz or Damascus Steel, which he hailed as one of the four metallurgical achievements of antiquity. Known by its anglicized name, wootz from India has attracted world attention. Not so well known is the fact that the modern edifice of metallurgy and materials science was built on European efforts to unravel the mystery of this Steel over the past three centuries.
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On Higher Carbon and Crucible Steels in Southern India: Further Insights from Mel-siruvalur, Kodumanal and Pattinam
Indian journal of history of science, 2007Co-Authors: Sharada SrinivasanAbstract:This paper touches on some further insights into the questions of the use, modes of production or antiquity of higher carbon Steel or higher carbon iron alloys from studies related to some finds from surface, megalithic and early historic finds in southern India. In particular the sites discussed include the surface finds of Crucible Steel production identified by the author at Mel-siruvalur, finds from the megalithic burial-cum-habitation site of Kodumanal, and the early historic site of Pattinam in Kerala
R. K. Dube - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Wootz: Erroneous Transliteration of Sanskrit “Utsa” used for Indian Crucible Steel
JOM, 2014Co-Authors: R. K. DubeAbstract:The terminology Wootz for the legendary Indian Crucible Steel was first introduced by Helenus Scott in his letter to Joseph Banks, the then President of the Royal Society, London, in 1794. He stated several salient features of this Steel in his letter. During the period 1794–1796, Banks received approximately 200 lbs. of this Steel from Scott. Banks assigned several professionals to carry out experimental work on Indian Crucible Steel. One such important person was the famous surgical instrument maker, cutler and metallurgist of his time, James Stodart. Stodart experimented extensively with the Indian Crucible Steel, and was its great admirer. It has been shown, along with corroborative documentary evidence, that the original word for this Steel was Sanskrit word “ utsa ”. This was erroneously transliterated in Roman script as Wootz by Scott in his letter to Banks. It was James Stodart, who preserved the Sanskrit word “ utsa ” written in Devanāgarī script on his trade card for future generation. The reason for using this word for the Indian Crucible Steel has also been discussed.
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Wootz: Erroneous Transliteration of Sanskrit “ Utsa ” used for Indian Crucible Steel
JOM, 2014Co-Authors: R. K. DubeAbstract:The terminology Wootz for the legendary Indian Crucible Steel was first introduced by Helenus Scott in his letter to Joseph Banks, the then President of the Royal Society, London, in 1794. He stated several salient features of this Steel in his letter. During the period 1794–1796, Banks received approximately 200 lbs. of this Steel from Scott. Banks assigned several professionals to carry out experimental work on Indian Crucible Steel. One such important person was the famous surgical instrument maker, cutler and metallurgist of his time, James Stodart. Stodart experimented extensively with the Indian Crucible Steel, and was its great admirer. It has been shown, along with corroborative documentary evidence, that the original word for this Steel was Sanskrit word “utsa”. This was erroneously transliterated in Roman script as Wootz by Scott in his letter to Banks. It was James Stodart, who preserved the Sanskrit word “utsa” written in Devanāgarī script on his trade card for future generation. The reason for using this word for the Indian Crucible Steel has also been discussed.
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wootz erroneous transliteration of sanskrit utsa used for indian Crucible Steel
JOM, 2014Co-Authors: R. K. DubeAbstract:The terminology Wootz for the legendary Indian Crucible Steel was first introduced by Helenus Scott in his letter to Joseph Banks, the then President of the Royal Society, London, in 1794. He stated several salient features of this Steel in his letter. During the period 1794–1796, Banks received approximately 200 lbs. of this Steel from Scott. Banks assigned several professionals to carry out experimental work on Indian Crucible Steel. One such important person was the famous surgical instrument maker, cutler and metallurgist of his time, James Stodart. Stodart experimented extensively with the Indian Crucible Steel, and was its great admirer. It has been shown, along with corroborative documentary evidence, that the original word for this Steel was Sanskrit word “utsa”. This was erroneously transliterated in Roman script as Wootz by Scott in his letter to Banks. It was James Stodart, who preserved the Sanskrit word “utsa” written in Devanāgarī script on his trade card for future generation. The reason for using this word for the Indian Crucible Steel has also been discussed.
Vasant Shinde - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Technology, chronology and the role of Crucible Steel as inferred from iron objects of the ancient site at Junnar, India
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013Co-Authors: Jang-sik Park, Vasant ShindeAbstract:Ordinary iron objects from an ancient habitation site at Junnar in India, dating to the 2nd BC to AD 2nd century, were examined for their microstructure, chemical composition and age. The objects were mostly made of high carbon Steel with a homogeneous microstructure consisting of fine spherical particles of carbide in the ferrite background, free of non-metallic inclusions. Their carbon concentration ranged from 0.7% to over 1.6% with one exception at 0.2%. Some of them contained trace amounts of silicon, manganese and sulfur while one object retained cavities due to volume contraction during solidification reactions. These features indicate that the objects examined constitute an early example of Indian Steel making in Crucibles. Evidence was found that basic techniques needed for the success of Crucible Steel technology were mostly available at Junnar at the time. The radiocarbon measurement on carbon samples extracted from one of the iron objects placed its date between 176 BC and AD 20, in agreement with the radiocarbon dates of three charcoal samples from the same site. The forgoing results support that Crucible Steel was produced in India at a much earlier date than previously supposed, to serve as a material for specific needs arising in daily life.
Francesco Grazzi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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On the use of neutron imaging methods to identify microstructural features in ancient Indian swords and armour
Microchemical Journal, 2020Co-Authors: Filomena Salvemini, Alan Williams, David Edge, Burkhard Schillinger, Francesco Cantini, Francesco GrazziAbstract:Abstract This is a continuation study that aims to investigate the structural features of arms and armour allegedly made of wootz, a form of pattered Crucible Steel first developed in ancient Southern India and already reported in the historical record around 300 BCE. Since artefacts made of wootz Steel were highly priced for their superior mechanical and esthetical features, expedients to recreate the typical “watered silk” surface of wootz Steel soon developed. In order to discern genuine from imitations, a non-invasive analytical approached based on neutron imaging methods was applied on a set of artefacts selected by the conservation department of the Wallace Collection. Polychromatic and monochromatic imaging methods were successfully applied to determine the structural properties of the samples related to the actual manufacturing process used to obtain the surface pattern.
Jang-sik Park - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Technology, chronology and the role of Crucible Steel as inferred from iron objects of the ancient site at Junnar, India
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013Co-Authors: Jang-sik Park, Vasant ShindeAbstract:Ordinary iron objects from an ancient habitation site at Junnar in India, dating to the 2nd BC to AD 2nd century, were examined for their microstructure, chemical composition and age. The objects were mostly made of high carbon Steel with a homogeneous microstructure consisting of fine spherical particles of carbide in the ferrite background, free of non-metallic inclusions. Their carbon concentration ranged from 0.7% to over 1.6% with one exception at 0.2%. Some of them contained trace amounts of silicon, manganese and sulfur while one object retained cavities due to volume contraction during solidification reactions. These features indicate that the objects examined constitute an early example of Indian Steel making in Crucibles. Evidence was found that basic techniques needed for the success of Crucible Steel technology were mostly available at Junnar at the time. The radiocarbon measurement on carbon samples extracted from one of the iron objects placed its date between 176 BC and AD 20, in agreement with the radiocarbon dates of three charcoal samples from the same site. The forgoing results support that Crucible Steel was produced in India at a much earlier date than previously supposed, to serve as a material for specific needs arising in daily life.