Characterization of ancient Indian iron and entrapped slag inclusions using electron, photon and nuclear microprobes

Compositional and structural information were obtained from an ancient 1600-year old Indian iron using microprobe techniques (EDS, mu XRD and mu PIXE). Several different local locations in the iron matrix and in the entrapped slag inclusions were analyzed. The P content of the metallic iron matrix was very heterogeneous. Lower P contents were observed in the regions near slag inclusions, This was correlated to the dephosphorization capacity of the slag. The crystallized phases identified in the slag inclusions were wustite and fayalite, The compositions of the slag inclusions were relatively homogeneous.