How did people long ago smelt iron without buckets that wouldn't melt?

Answer 1

Well, isn't that a fascinating question! Long ago, people used clay furnaces to smelt iron. These furnaces were designed to withstand the high temperatures needed for smelting without melting themselves. It's amazing how resourceful our ancestors were, finding ways to work with the materials they had to create something new and useful.

Answer 2

Carved stone requires more heat to melt than metal

Depending on which era you are talking about; metal workers either used dirt holes in the ground or carved surfaces of rock with hollow bowl shaped indentations

Doing it in dirt obviously produced very low quality metal

Some also used thick clay pottery which would be destroyed to remove the metal after it cooled

Eventually it was discovered that different metals also require different temperatures to melt so it was possible to use one metal for the bucket and another for the smelting. The bucket was often cast using a clay mold which was shattered during the process

Answer 3

Long ago, people smelted iron using a bloomery furnace, which is a small, simple furnace made of clay or stone. The iron ore and charcoal were layered inside the furnace and then heated using a continuous airflow to reach the high temperatures necessary for smelting. The iron produced in bloomery furnaces was then forged into usable items.