hi Billman,
Good to see this again. It's more detail than I noted back in entry #13 or so.
Since we're updating this thread, I think I've got an answer for why the Andeans never got to iron metallurgy. While I think it's possible to smelt iron at high altitude, I'm pretty sure that the Andeans weren't able to make a fire hot enough to smelt iron ore.
There's an interesting, unexplored thread here about the development of progressively hotter fires as a prerequisite for working different metals. Copper needs a hotter fire than gold, bronze hotter than copper, and iron hotter than bronze, etc (up to the current metal-glasses of the last few decades).
Some of this pyrotechnology can be appropriated from potters (a kiln for porcelain is a lot hotter than one for terra cotta. But if a society hasn't developed things like bellows and charcoal (or coke) for fuel, forging iron isn't going to be possible either.
I don't have a lot of data or examples on this, but it's worth exploring. I'm looking for examples of bronze-aged porcelain, and Iron Age people who only made low-fire clay pots. Any thoughts?
Best,
F
Best,
F
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