Investigation And Research On The Iron Smelting Site Of The Jin Dynasty In Xichuan,Xiaolingtown,Acheng,Heilongjiang

The Heilongjiang region is located on the northern frontier of China and was an important link between China and North-East Asia,as well as a strategic point in Asia and the Pacific to Russia and the European continent,and has been inhabited by many ethnic groups since ancient times.The spread and development of ancient iron smelting technology in the Heilongjiang region was an important part of the region’s ancient technological culture.The Xichuan iron smelting site is a Jin dynasty iron smelting site in the Heilongjiang region,located in Xichuan Tun,Xiaoling Town,Acheng City,Heilongjiang Province.The coordinates of the site were determined by GPS data to be 127°13′4.98″E,45°14′47.3″N,and there is a river near the site,called the Ash River,for which the Jin dynasty state name was named according to literature.This will reveal the details of iron smelting technology and iron smelting during the Jin dynasty,and provide useful reference material for clarifying the history of iron smelting in the Heilongjiang region.Scientific experimental analysis of the metallurgical remains within the Xichuan iron smelting site was carried out in accordance with the academic method of iron smelting slag analysis to determine iron smelting technology.Microscopic observation and compositional testing of slag and furnace wall debris were carried out using gold(mineral)phase microscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.A total of 17 samples were prepared from the metallurgical remains collected at the Xichuan iron smelting site,and the above experimental studies led to the preliminary conclusion that the iron smelting technology at the Xichuan iron smelting site was pig iron smelting technology,the pig iron slag was a silicomanganese,iron,aluminium and calcium polygonal slag,some of the pig iron slag contained iron particles,the pig iron slag was mostly high manganese slag,two fluxes,limestone and manganese containing substances,and charcoal was the pig iron charcoal was the fuel and reducing agent for pig iron smelting.The iron smelting site at Xichuan was most likely a pig iron frying site,with the frying slag being an iron-silicon-manganese slag and charcoal being the frying fuel.Combined with the results of the experimental analysis and documentary research,it is clear that the Heilongjiang region had mastered pig iron smelting technology by the Jin dynasty and was able to produce iron on a large scale independently.The use of iron in the Heilongjiang region was uneven,and as a result the spread of pig iron smelting technology may have been uneven,mainly because of the large number of iron tools excavated close to the Central Plains and their widespread use;The spread of iron and steel technology in the Heilongjiang region took place in three stages: in the first stage,iron was transmitted to the Heilongjiang region;in the second stage,the raw materials for making iron were understood and the techniques for making them were spread;in the third stage,iron and steel smelting was possible in the Heilongjiang region.