According to Arthurian legend, the great wizard Merlin prophesied that only the true king of England would be able to pull the famous sword Excalibur out of the stone in which it was lodged. So when ...

Archaeologists have discovered iron objects at six sites in Tamil Nadu, dating back to 2,953–3,345 BCE, or between 5,000 to 5,400 years old. This suggests that the process of extracting, smelting, ...

NARA--Researchers have unearthed a shield-shaped bronze mirror and massive iron sword in an ancient kofun burial mound here, unprecedented discoveries of their kind in Japan. The unusually ...

This step is as vital as it is tedious, because if other elements besides iron and carbon remain in the resulting sword, they will weaken it. Once the skilled smith has removed all of the slag ...

KASHIHARA, Nara Prefecture--An iron sword that at more than 2 meters long ranks as the largest intact ancient blade ever discovered in Japan is heavily oxidized after being buried in soil for ...