In October, the participants in a shared Classics-Engineering metallurgy course undertook an experiment to create bronze the old-fashioned way: as people would have in prehistoric times. The students attempted to turn natural copper and tin ores (malachite and cassiterite) into bronze, using a fire pit and self-made tuyeres and ceramic crucibles. The experiment was only partly successful (just a tiny amount of metal was created), but enough for the class to perform chemical analysis of the final product. Regardless of the outcome, the exercise was nothing if not fun!
