Cite this as: Liu, Y. and Wood, J.R. 2025 Questioning Diversity (of Iron) in the Workplace: Bloomery Iron, Cast Iron, China and the West, Internet Archaeology 69. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.69.14
The Iron Ages in the West and China did not start with the first appearance of iron but with the first functional applications of iron. Although the initial trajectory leading to these applications was similar in both regions, the West entered its Iron Age with bloomery iron, while China replaced bloomery iron with cast iron. Our zoomed-out approach suggests that this divergence had very little to do with differences in technological capital between the two regions, but was influenced mainly by the applications demanded of iron within the respective socio-political environments. We propose that access to the technologies associated with bronze and pottery, to mass produce cast iron, differentiated China from the West and set each region on its respective course. We further propose that the West's trajectory to adopt bloomery iron was fixed through its reliance on specialists (blacksmiths) who could work independently of these technologies. China's trajectory to adopt cast iron was fixed by the socio-economic powerbase required to set up a cast iron industry at a state level, which was reinforced by an Imperial monopoly from the Han dynasty. Essentially, we have investigated why the West did not develop cast iron technology earlier than China, and why China developed cast iron technology 2000 years before the West.
Corresponding author: Jonathan R. Wood
[email protected]
Henan University
Yaxiong Liu
[email protected]
Henan University
Figure 1: Photographs of a bimetallic knife (upper) and ge blade (bottom) from Guo state cemetery, Sanmenxia (Henan). Adapted from Chen et al. (2018).
Figure 2: A cupola furnace: a reconstruction of a bronze melting furnace found in Houma, Shanxi (adapted from Li 1994, 147, fig. 74), a type commonly found at foundry sites of the Spring and Autumn period.
Figure 3: A schematic of the reduction reactions that take place during smelting, whether in a bloomery or blast furnace.
Figure 4a: A reconstruction of a Han-period iron melting furnace, based on nine furnaces excavated at Wafangzhuang in Nanyang, Henan, showing that the outer diameter at the base was 2.3 m, with a height of 3–4 m (redrawn by Wang Ziyuan from Wagner 2008, 238, fig. 102). Note that the air blast is carried by ceramic pipes over the top of the furnace to heat it before it enters at the bottom.
Figure 4b: A reconstruction of an iron melting furnace found at Yangcheng, a foundry located in Dengfeng, Henan, that specialised in iron agricultural tools from the Han period (adapted from Li 1994, 148, fig. 75).
Figure 5: A schematic flow diagram for working with bloomery and cast iron. As mentioned in the text, some of the routes to process cast iron are highly unlikely, particularly for iron that has only been decarburised at the surface.
Figure 6: The locations of early bloomery iron and cast iron pre-dating the Warring States period (i.e. before 475 BCE). Note that this is not a complete list of iron finds in China from this period, but a summary of those that have undergone scientific examination (Wood and Liu 2025b). 1. Mogou, Gansu. 2. Lingtai, Gansu. 3. Yimen, Shaanxi. 4. Liangdaicun, Shaanxi. 5. Sanmenxia, Henan. 6. Qucun, Shanxi. 7. Yangying, Hubei. 8. Linzi, Shandong. 9. Liuhe, Jiangsu. 10. Wuxian, Jiangsu.
Figure 7: A flow diagram that shows the diverging trajectories of the adoption of iron between China and the West.
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