Matthew Jacobs.docx
Posted at Feb 16/2011 09:46AM:
Week 3 Practicum:
Gordon & Killick (1993) and the author of the historical background texts from this weeks practicum speak of the short lived existence of many smelting operations. As learned from the practicum, the positing of our X on the map of possible smelting sites involved a complex equating of variables. The neat linear chart Kevin shared on the first day of class describes the smelting processes well enough from an instructional perspective but I imagine the graphic representation of the actual processes to resemble children’s scribbles; with shakily rendered lines starting, stopping, intersecting and intertwining with a vaguely legible order to it all. In a complex process involving six or seven smaller processes each of which can be further broken down, the potential for major systemic problems was great and evident in the accounts of the many short lived smelting operations and in archaeological evidence of huge disparities in the quality of iron smelted at a given sites. As a business model, the lack of quality, consistency and the large investments of time and labor would all deter most entrepreneurs, but it wasn’t; the explanation being the critical role iron played in industry and in people’s daily lives. The skills required of an ironmaster far exceeded those of his craft; geography, economics, geology, hydrology, engineering, and geology are just a few of the fields a successful operator would need to be proficient in.
