Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
By the late 18th century, the Europeans were aware of their having metal weapons, but as far as known all metalwork was 'cold worked'. Most smaller tools and knives were made from individual sections or pieces of metal termed 'toes', which were eagerly sought in trade.
The meteoric weapons which were apparently from an uncertain number of sources of meteoric iron, were cold worked by shaping and hammering with rocks it seems. The use of meteoric iron was well known among the Inuit and other aboriginal peoples.
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Though it is clear that examples of cold worked meteorite do exist i believe it is equally clear that many of these Tlingit daggers that are dated to the mid and late 18th century are indeed indigenously FORGED weapons. Again, where how they developed these forging kills remains unknown, but there are daggers that were "collected" in the late 18th century by Europeans that obviously were not European forgings. By the 19th century Tlingit forging skills increased greatly, producing large and elaborately fullered daggers. So while there may not be much evidence of indigenous smelting i believe there is plenty of evidence of indigenous forging.