Crucible steel at Hattota Amune, Sri Lanka, in the first millennium AD: archaeology and contextualisation

Abstract

The discovery of a crucible steel manufacturing site and iron smelting sites of the first millennium AD during the survey of an area bordering the Knuckles range of hills in central Sri Lanka is described. The nature of the evidence for both smelting and crucible steel technologies is discussed and comparisons made with earlier published fieldwork at Samanalawewa. The excavation of the crucible steel site is presented along with a discussion of the interpretations drawn from the field evidence.