Ancient Iron: Experimental Archaeology in Sudan

Since 2012, under the auspices of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Sudan, UCL Qatar has been conducting a large-scale systematic investigation of the iron production remains at Meroe and at the Meroitic site of Hamadab. Using geophysics to try to locate furnace workshops underground and to understand the internal makeup of the slag mounds, combined with systematic excavation, sampling and laboratory analysis, a number of exciting findings and results have already been generated. In January 2015, in order to enhance our understandings of Meroitic iron smelting, UCL Qatar created the first iron smelting festival at Meroe. The scientific aim of this festival was to collect data to improve our interpretation of the archaeometallurgical record. A further goal of the smelting festival was to raise local, national and international awareness of the technological prowess of the Meroites.