View Single Post
Old 26th April 2009, 09:11 PM   #8
Jake
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 13
Default

I must also add that as a blacksmith,and one addicted to reading papers on anthropology/exploration/et c. to boot,i often notice inaccuracies in the accounts,where they deal with matters metallurgical.
So that when the inevitable FINAL WORD comes down,which,invariably,is"These people were primitive(?),and were not familiar with open reduction of Fe/cementation/heat-treatment,and the like...",my doubt is never resolved.Even the immortal Steller,who was so scrupulous about the minutia of all else...
At the request of an anthropologist friend i have just leaved through 1992 doctoral dissertation by S.Ann Dunham,"The Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia".I must say that there are a few fairly gross inaccuracies,as exellent a paper(i'm sure)it is as far as cultural anthropology and the economics.
I understand that not everyone can obsess with forging,the way some of us are consumed,but...just the barest modicum of informedness,and so much can become clearer!
Please excuse my lament,all the best,Jake.
Jake is offline   Reply With Quote