Kaman-Kalehöyük

Kaman-Kalehöyük is a multi-period archaeological site in Kırşehir, Turkey, around 100km south east of Ankara. It is a tell or mound site that was occupied during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Ottoman periods. Since 1986 it has been investigated by archaeologists from the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan.

In 2005, metallurgical analysis by Hideo Akanuma of iron fragments found at Kaman-Kalehöyük in 1994 and dating to c. 1800 BCE revealed that some of these fragments were in fact composed of carbon steel; these currently form the world's earliest known evidence for steel manufacture.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Akanuma, H. (2005). "The significance of the composition of excavated iron fragments taken from Stratum III at the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey". Anatolian Archaeological Studies 14: 147–158. 
2. ^ "Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2009-03-26. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-27. 

External links

Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology - official website