[MR] History Blog: Scottish Dark Ages Smelter Discovered

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, especially fellow Scots,

Today the History Blog reports on the discovery of a dark ages smelter on
the Scottish island of Islay in the Hebrides.

The works are thought to have been active between the 6th and 9th centuries
in what was then the pre-Scottish kingdom of Dàl Riata. The facility was
used to reduce iron-rich bog ore to a "bloom" for further processing
elsewhere into wrought iron.

The story is found at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/71127 .

Bog iron was an important resource during the middle ages until replaced by
richer ores from mines. More than you ever wanted to know about bog iron
can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_iron .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep Merry Rose relevant and in business.