Iron Sands from the Black Sea

Extract

The use of iron-bearing sands such as those of the Black Sea has often been thought of as an early source of iron ore by archaeo-metallurgists. Indeed Japan was an avid user of such material as late as the 19th century, and its use was being considered by the Turkish authorities in 1975.

The black sands of the south side of the Black Sea are very extensive, and obvious to the layman because of their unusual nature. They are also highly magnetic and quite a high proportion can be picked up with the aid of a small permanent magnet. On two occasions samples were taken and examined for their iron content and to see how reducible they were, i.e. how easy it would be for early smiths to use them. The analysis of two batches is given in Table 1. The first sample was taken from near Kirazlik, which is 42 km. west of Trabzon, and the second from sites extending from 4 km. west of Ordu to 10 km. west of Ünye. It is clear that there is not much difference in the composition from the two sites which are about 100 km. apart.