1,000-Year-Old Precursor to Stainless Steel Found in Iran

[Imperial Dave]

https://gizmodo.com/1-000-year-old-precursor-to-stainless-steel-found-in-ir-1845145184

pretty interesting discovery

[Jim Webster]

https://gizmodo.com/1-000-year-old-precursor-to-stainless-steel-found-in-ir-1845145184

pretty interesting discovery

you wonder why they bothered, given that the phosphorus made the steel brittle. It almost sounds like an impurity; a bug, not a feature

[Imperial Dave]

I did wonder that Jim...however, many accidents lead onto leaps of technology

[DougM]

I'm also curious because of the reputation of Merv steel, and whether there was some form of methodology in tradition.

[DBS]

you wonder why they bothered, given that the phosphorus made the steel brittle. It almost sounds like an impurity; a bug, not a feature

Or else, given that they are basing this off tiny fragments in charcoal residue and slag, whether they are jumping to a conclusion about its use in weapons and armour?  The "unreferenced reference" to historical manuscripts that the steel was known to be brittle may mean that any use of it for such purposes was short-lived or reserved for ceremonial bling rather than the battlefield.