A bit late, but this week's blog post is up: https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-make-it-part-ii-trees-for-blooms/ … looking at how the smelting process was accomplished in the pre-modern period, in the absence of modern blast furnaces. Probably a lot of typos in there too, but I needs must be grading.
Mostly, the limiting factor here is you need a favorable temperature (so you can't go too far North; true even in China) and lots of water. And the warmer parts of Europe and Africa tend to be too dry, while the wet parts of Europe and Africa tend to be too cold.
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Thanks! That's fascinating. So high rainfall was critical to rice production? That's consistent with what I was reading in David Abulafia's The Boundless Sea about rice production in and around the Indian Ocean being tied to the monsoon season & rainfall.
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And another follow up, I suppose. What was the principal cereal crop in the more arid regions of China/the Indian subcontinent. Was it a variety of wheat, or were there diversified wheats, barleys, etc.?
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