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Originally Posted by Ann Feuerbach
Hi Bill,
Excuse me if this answer is a bit muddled, I have a horrible cold and a fuzzy head  In the future we may be able to carbon date iron, I know Oxford has been working on this with varing amounts of success. Ideally a small uncorroded sample can tell us information such as if there is slag inclusions. The type of slag could in some circumstances suggest a relative date. Elemental analysis can also sometimes suggest whether or not it is new or old iron. We can also tell about the iron/carbon content and heat treatments. Testing rust will only tell you it is iron. Due to segretation and leaching in and out of elements during corrosion, as far as I know you can not get any useful information out of rust. I would be very scptical about any one who says they can learn alot from corrosion. I have found relic structures in corrosion products. It is hard to say what can be learnt about it without seeing it. If you want, send it to me and I can take a look at it and suggest possible aspects for research.
Ann |
In regards to using corrosion to date a blade, it might be worth mentioning, that it is the accepted method of dating Japanese blades through the examination of the corrosion on the tang. I think a lot of study as been put into this over the years and one can start seeing trends in the depth of corrosion, color of corrosion, etc. and match this to dated tangs to get an "eye" for dating an unsigned blade. Barring new technology that can somehow date the metal of the blade, studying a blades tang seems to be an accepted method of dating. Thoughts?