Gill Juleff Paul Craddock Tim Malim

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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How to Cite
In the footsteps of Ananda Coomaraswamy: Veralugasmankada and the archaeology and oral history of traditional iron smelting in Sri Lanka. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 43(2), 109-134. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/170
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How to Cite

In the footsteps of Ananda Coomaraswamy: Veralugasmankada and the archaeology and oral history of traditional iron smelting in Sri Lanka. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 43(2), 109-134. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/170