Talk:Noric steel
Classical Greece and Rome Start‑class Low‑importance | ||||||||||
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Metalworking Start‑class Low‑importance | ||||||||||
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According to Dr. Brigitte Cech, Austrian archaeologist, Romans never excavated iron ore from Erzberg mountain, Styria. This source of raw material became important only from Middle Ages onwards. (Gottfried Wernig, A-9341 Strassburg)
Gottfried is right. Erzberg ore is not Noricum. It is purer in iron, also less concentrated. The point about Noricum ore from Knappenberg/Huettenberg, and other small mines in the area, is that it has natural work-hardening alloying elements in it. It is also more highly concentrated in iron % than Erzberg ore. A visit to the museum at Knappenberg is well worthwhile (I was there yesterday!) Frankly it is better informed about local iron-making than the Technische Museum Wien. It's possible that other mines around Friesach have similar properties. Friesach is considerably easier to access, as a trading and administration centre. Incidentally, I asked if Turrach iron claimed to be Noricum (I was there last week). The answer is no. Turrach can claim the first Bessemer converter in Austria.
Also- quarrying is done on the surface. This is partly true at Erzberg, certainly in modern times. But it is not true at Knappenberg/Huettenberg because the extraction is underground i.e. mining.
This article needs some references. My sources, apart from the museums, include 'Eisenbahnen am Kärntner Erzberg: Bilder von den Förderbahnen, Bergbauen, und Bergleuten am Hüttenberger Erzberg (Archiv für vaterländische Geschichte und Topographie) (German Edition) Hohn, Manfred' (Andrew Starr A9020 Klagenfurt)
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.119.16.124 (talk) 06:02, 20 September 2017 (UTC)