wiki1.docOre and Fuel Group Exercise Response
Last week's group exercise was really useful in helping review important aspects of iron smelting. The second part was also fun and engaging because it forced us to apply our knowledge and consider all the details that go into a successful iron works. This part of the exercise allowed me to understand not just what components are necessary for iron smelting, but how they affect the overall success of the process. For example, we wanted our bloomery to run on water power, so we had to find a spot on the river that would provide fast enough flow while being close enough to the other resources we needed, such as ore and wood for charcoal. I enjoyed the research component of this exercise and thought my group did a good job dividing up topics and finding all the information we needed in a timely manner. The hard part was putting all this information together to choose a location for our bloomery. I think our group made a pretty good choice, but after learning about the other groups' choices, I personally would change our location to a better position on the river, or maybe even another location altogether. In any case, this exercise helped me gain another level of understanding about iron smelting and really opened my eyes to the many problems ironmasters have faced.
