The first famous metallurgist in ancient China is Qiwu Huaiwen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386－557 AD), who invented the process of using wrought iron and cast iron to make steel.

Similar weapons with smelted iron blades suggest meteoritic metal could have informed early ironworking techniques. PHOTO: ZHAO ANG, GUO STATE MUSEUM, SANMENXIA, CHINA BACKGROUND: OWEN FREEMAN ...

Archaeologists think this innovation was independently discovered in several places and then spread through the ancient world ... heating and hammering cast iron to remove impurities and add ...