In the footsteps of Ananda Coomaraswamy: Veralugasmankada and the archaeology and oral history of traditional iron smelting in Sri Lanka
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Published
Nov 11, 2021
Abstract
Two well-preserved, bellows-driven, shaft furnaces are representative of a traditional, village-based iron-smelting technology that survived into the early 20th century. The excavation data is one component of the record of this technology, which is supplemented by the illustrated eye-witness account by Ananda Coomaraswamy, and also by more recent interviews with the last local inhabitants
with first-hand experience and memory of the process itself and the craftsmen involved. These strands of evidence are brought together to give a near-complete description of a bloomery process that has parallels on several continents and the potential to inform the interpretation of many less-complete records.
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References
Baker S W 1885, Eight years in Ceylon (London).
Buchanan F 1807, A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, 3 vols (London).
Cammiade L A 1931, ‘Iron smelting by Kois, a jungle tribe in the Eastern Ghats of India’, Man 65, 66–67.
Clough R 1985, ‘The iron industry in the Iron Age and Romano-British period’, in P T Craddock and M J Hughes (eds), Furnaces and smelting technology in antiquity (London: British Museum Occasional Paper 48), 179–188.
Codrington H W 1909, ‘The Kandyan Navandanno’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 21(62), 221–253.
Coomaraswamy A K 1904, Administration report of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon (Colombo).
Coomaraswamy A K 1907, ‘Native arts and handicrafts’, in A Wright (ed), Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon (London), 180–188.
Coomaraswamy A K 1956, Medieval Sinhalese art (New York).
Coomaraswamy A K 1961, ‘The early iron and steel industry of Ceylon’, The Ceylon Geographer 15, 31–37.
Craddock P T 1989, ‘The scientific investigation of early mining and metallurgy’, in J Henderson (ed), Scientific analysis in archaeology (Oxford: OUCA Monograph 19), 178–191.
Crew P 1991, ‘The experimental production of prehistoric bar iron’, Historical Metallurgy 25(1), 21–36.
Davy J 1821, An account of the interior of Ceylon (London).
Freestone I C and Tite M S 1986, ‘Refractory materials in the ancient and pre-industrial world’, in W D Kingery (ed), High technology ceramics, past, present and future (Westerville, Ohio: Ceramics and Civilization 3), 35–64.
Jayawardena K 1995, The white woman’s other burden, (New York).
Juleff G 1996, ‘An ancient wind-powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka’, Nature 379(6560), 60–63.
Juleff G 1998, Early iron and steel in Sri Lanka: a study of the Samanalawewa area (Mainz: AVA-Materialien Bd 54).
Killick D J and Gordon R B 1988, ‘The mechanism of iron production in the bloomery furnace’, in R M Farquhar, R V Hancock and L A Pavlish (eds), Proceedings of the 26th Archaeometry Conference (Toronto), 120–123.
Knox R 1681, An historical relation of Ceylon (London), reprinted 1958 (Colombo).
Malim T J P, Shotliff A and Juleff G 1995, ‘Excavating iron-smelting furnaces at Samanalawewa, Sri Lanka: a methodological approach’, in F R and B Allchin (eds), South Asian archaeology (New Delhi), 911–924.
McWilliam A 1920, ‘Indian iron making at Mirjati, Chota Nagpur’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 102(2), 159–170.
Merkel J F 1990, ‘Experimental reconstruction of Bronze Age copper smelting based on archaeological evidence from Timna’, in B Rothenberg (ed), The ancient metallurgy of copper (London), 78–122.
Nell A 1922, ‘The rural workers in iron and steel’, in The handbook, guide and directory to all Ceylon industries exhibition (Colombo), 66.
Ondaatje W C 1854, ‘The Kandyan mode of manufacturing steel’, Ceylon Almanack appendix, 40.
Percy J 1864, Metallurgy: vol II, Iron and steel (London).
Pieris R 1956, Sinhalese social organization (Colombo).
Pleiner R 2000, Iron in archaeology: the European bloomery smelters (Prague).
Rostoker W and Bronson B 1990, Pre-industrial iron. (Philadelphia: Archaeomaterials Monograph 1).
Ryan B F 1953, Caste in modern Ceylon: the Sinhalese system in transition (New Jersey).
Sim D 1998 Beyond the bloom (Oxford: BAR International Series 725).
Sim D and Ridge I 2002 Iron for the eagles: the iron industry of Roman Britain (Stroud).
Tennent J E 1859, Ceylon, 2 volumes (London).
Tylecote R F 1976, A history of metallurgy (London).
Tylecote R F 1981, ‘From pot bellows to tuyeres’, Levant 13, 107–118.
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe (London).
Tylecote R F, Austen J N and Wraith A E 1971, ‘The mechanism of the bloomery process in shaft furnaces’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 209(5), 209–218.
Wayman M L and Juleff G 1999, ‘Crucible steelmaking in Sri Lanka’, Historical Metallurgy 33(1), 26–42.
Wynne E J and Tylecote R F 1958, ‘An experimental investigation into primitive iron smelting techniques’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 190, 339–348.
Yule H 1842, ‘Notes on the iron of the Kaisa hills, for the museum of economical geology’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 11, 853–857.
Buchanan F 1807, A journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar, 3 vols (London).
Cammiade L A 1931, ‘Iron smelting by Kois, a jungle tribe in the Eastern Ghats of India’, Man 65, 66–67.
Clough R 1985, ‘The iron industry in the Iron Age and Romano-British period’, in P T Craddock and M J Hughes (eds), Furnaces and smelting technology in antiquity (London: British Museum Occasional Paper 48), 179–188.
Codrington H W 1909, ‘The Kandyan Navandanno’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 21(62), 221–253.
Coomaraswamy A K 1904, Administration report of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon (Colombo).
Coomaraswamy A K 1907, ‘Native arts and handicrafts’, in A Wright (ed), Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon (London), 180–188.
Coomaraswamy A K 1956, Medieval Sinhalese art (New York).
Coomaraswamy A K 1961, ‘The early iron and steel industry of Ceylon’, The Ceylon Geographer 15, 31–37.
Craddock P T 1989, ‘The scientific investigation of early mining and metallurgy’, in J Henderson (ed), Scientific analysis in archaeology (Oxford: OUCA Monograph 19), 178–191.
Crew P 1991, ‘The experimental production of prehistoric bar iron’, Historical Metallurgy 25(1), 21–36.
Davy J 1821, An account of the interior of Ceylon (London).
Freestone I C and Tite M S 1986, ‘Refractory materials in the ancient and pre-industrial world’, in W D Kingery (ed), High technology ceramics, past, present and future (Westerville, Ohio: Ceramics and Civilization 3), 35–64.
Jayawardena K 1995, The white woman’s other burden, (New York).
Juleff G 1996, ‘An ancient wind-powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka’, Nature 379(6560), 60–63.
Juleff G 1998, Early iron and steel in Sri Lanka: a study of the Samanalawewa area (Mainz: AVA-Materialien Bd 54).
Killick D J and Gordon R B 1988, ‘The mechanism of iron production in the bloomery furnace’, in R M Farquhar, R V Hancock and L A Pavlish (eds), Proceedings of the 26th Archaeometry Conference (Toronto), 120–123.
Knox R 1681, An historical relation of Ceylon (London), reprinted 1958 (Colombo).
Malim T J P, Shotliff A and Juleff G 1995, ‘Excavating iron-smelting furnaces at Samanalawewa, Sri Lanka: a methodological approach’, in F R and B Allchin (eds), South Asian archaeology (New Delhi), 911–924.
McWilliam A 1920, ‘Indian iron making at Mirjati, Chota Nagpur’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 102(2), 159–170.
Merkel J F 1990, ‘Experimental reconstruction of Bronze Age copper smelting based on archaeological evidence from Timna’, in B Rothenberg (ed), The ancient metallurgy of copper (London), 78–122.
Nell A 1922, ‘The rural workers in iron and steel’, in The handbook, guide and directory to all Ceylon industries exhibition (Colombo), 66.
Ondaatje W C 1854, ‘The Kandyan mode of manufacturing steel’, Ceylon Almanack appendix, 40.
Percy J 1864, Metallurgy: vol II, Iron and steel (London).
Pieris R 1956, Sinhalese social organization (Colombo).
Pleiner R 2000, Iron in archaeology: the European bloomery smelters (Prague).
Rostoker W and Bronson B 1990, Pre-industrial iron. (Philadelphia: Archaeomaterials Monograph 1).
Ryan B F 1953, Caste in modern Ceylon: the Sinhalese system in transition (New Jersey).
Sim D 1998 Beyond the bloom (Oxford: BAR International Series 725).
Sim D and Ridge I 2002 Iron for the eagles: the iron industry of Roman Britain (Stroud).
Tennent J E 1859, Ceylon, 2 volumes (London).
Tylecote R F 1976, A history of metallurgy (London).
Tylecote R F 1981, ‘From pot bellows to tuyeres’, Levant 13, 107–118.
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe (London).
Tylecote R F, Austen J N and Wraith A E 1971, ‘The mechanism of the bloomery process in shaft furnaces’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 209(5), 209–218.
Wayman M L and Juleff G 1999, ‘Crucible steelmaking in Sri Lanka’, Historical Metallurgy 33(1), 26–42.
Wynne E J and Tylecote R F 1958, ‘An experimental investigation into primitive iron smelting techniques’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 190, 339–348.
Yule H 1842, ‘Notes on the iron of the Kaisa hills, for the museum of economical geology’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 11, 853–857.
How to Cite
Juleff, G., Craddock, P., & Malim, T. (2021). In the footsteps of Ananda Coomaraswamy: Veralugasmankada and the archaeology and oral history of traditional iron smelting in Sri Lanka. Historical Metallurgy, 43(2), 109-134. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/170
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How to Cite
Juleff, G., Craddock, P., & Malim, T. (2021). In the footsteps of Ananda Coomaraswamy: Veralugasmankada and the archaeology and oral history of traditional iron smelting in Sri Lanka. Historical Metallurgy, 43(2), 109-134. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/170