page_title: Bloomery
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bloomery / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Persian Method of Smelting Iron.
context_page_description: A bloomery is a type of furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom. The mix of slag and iron in the bloom, termed sponge iron, is usually consolidated and further forged into wrought iron. Blast furnaces, which produce pig iron, have largely superseded bloomeries.
context_section_description: The onset of the Iron Age in most parts of the world coincides with the first widespread use of the bloomery.  While earlier examples of iron are found, their high nickel content indicates that this is meteoric iron.  Other early samples of iron may have been produced by accidental introduction of iron ore in bronze smelting operations. Iron appears to have been smelted in the West as early as 3000 BC, but bronze smiths, not being familiar with iron, did not put it to use until much later.  In the West, iron began to be used around 1200 BC.
caption: A drawing of a simple bloomery and bellows.
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