Characteristics and significance of materials related to Iron Sand in the Joseon Dynasty

Previous studies on the remains of iron production using iron sand as a raw material were based only on cases where metallurgical analysis showed iron with a high titanium content. To overcome this limitation, this study first compared Japan's iron-smelting technology, Tatara iron-making technology, with the materials excavated from the Gimje Eungok iron-making site, a steel-smelting site from the late Joseon Dynasty in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. As a result, there are differences in the smelting furnace type, metallurgical analysis results, and products. Based on this, the metallurgical analysis results of the materials excavated from the nine ruins where metallurgical analysis was performed were reviewed by dividing them into raw materials, products, and by-products. According to the result, the titanium content in the raw material, iron sand, differed by region, and the characteristics of sodium oxide, zirconium oxide, and vanadium oxide were found. In addition, products were mainly made of pig iron and wrought iron, and steel was found in small quantities. This is a difference from Japan. It was found that the by-product showed characteristics similar to those of the raw material, and no additional additives were added. Regarding the analysis results of modern iron sand raw materials, the common features of the iron sand from the Gyeongsang region were high titanium content with no vanadium. In the Jeolla region, there were differences in the composition of iron sand raw materials, which is deemed a regional difference in iron sand raw materials due to geology.