Slag Chart

[ Slag Chart, Both iron making and smithing produce slag as byproducts. Metallurgical analyses can determine the origin of the slag.  The large pie chart of the L'Anse aux Meadows slag shows that only 4.78% of the slag was from smithing.  Except from the smithing hearth slag and some which could not be determined,  the rest of the slag was from the iron making.  Bear, cinder, and refractories are all associated with the fabrication of iron.
 
Smithing hearth slag is the slag formed during the first hammering of the iron when it is very hot as it is removed from the furnace., Birgitta Wallace and John Gaspereau, Parks Canada Archaeology Laboratory, Halifax  ]

Source: Parks Canada Archaeology Laboratory, Halifax, , , Birgitta Wallace and John Gaspereau, "Slag Chart," 1990. Notes: Both iron making and smithing produce slag as byproducts. Metallurgical analyses can determine the origin of the slag. The large pie chart of the L'Anse aux Meadows slag shows that only 4.78% of the slag was from smithing. Except from the smithing hearth slag and some which could not be determined, the rest of the slag was from the iron making. Bear, cinder, and refractories are all associated with the fabrication of iron. Smithing hearth slag is the slag formed during the first hammering of the iron when it is very hot as it is removed from the furnace.

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