America's Mysterious Furnaces

Author's New Book: Ohio Iron Furnaces Are Prehistoric!

Casting In Mold Found At Pit Furnace Site
Stone Masonry At Spruce Hill? -- Spruce Hill Furnaces Melted Copper?
Copper Casting At Cahokia? -- 1,000 B.C. In Michigan? -- Xeroradiographs
Ohio: Pit Iron Furnaces -- Prehistoric Copper Furnaces? Delaware County -- Site List -- Furnace Gallery

Furnaces In Arizona, New Mexico? -- Virginia? -- Georgia?

Was This An Iron Furnace?

Yes, it was. Welcome to archaeological mystery! The author is William Conner, avocational archaeologist of Columbus, Ohio. My archaeological odyssey begins August, 1963, as I pose (middle) with amateur archaeologist Arlington H. Mallery, and a neighborhood youngster. We sit in the remains of the bowl of the Overly furnace near the village of Austin, Ross County, Ohio. This furnace and others like it in South Central Ohio, excavated 1949-1992 by amateur investigators, represent an Old World technology 2,000 years old. How did it come to exist in Ohio?

August, 2005: Deer Creek Type Ohio Furnaces Are Prehistoric!

Conclusive Evidence To Be Included In Author's Book

I have obtained conclusive new evidence the Ohio pit iron furnaces are prehistoric, and will no longer refer to the Ohio pit iron smelters as presumed historic. The new evidence will be published in my book. I am now submitting proposals for publication of my book to publishers. Earlier investigators, including Mallery, thought the Deer Creek mound furnaces proved iron was smelted there by Norsemen, or other Old World visitors to America, before Columbus. They also assumed these ancient travelers interacted with the Indians and influenced their culture before disappearing into the prehistoric mist. They were correct! Evidence is entirely lacking that these furnaces were built and operated by early Ohio pioneers. The technology represented by these furnaces was long obsolete in the early 1800's. This new conclusion is entirely that of the author of this web site and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of those who have assisted my the investigation of these furnaces in the past. The new evidence will be published only in my book. News about the book will be included in this web site as it occurs. This web site will be revised to reflect evidence after the book is published.

Curiosity Overcomes Skepticism, 1963

In 1963, Arlington Mallery was still remembered locally as the amateur archaeologist who claimed that the Norse had built and operated iron smelting furnaces in Ross County, Ohio long before Columbus discovered America. Beginning in 1949, and continuing for several years, newspapers ran stories about Mallery and his "Viking furnaces." In his 1951 book, Lost America, Mallery classified the Overly furnace and several similar Ross County pit furnaces he investigated as "Nordic" or "Celtic" for their resemblance to ancient Old World pit smelters. He said his evidence "points to the Norse of Greenland" as those responsible for the furnaces, declared that the furnaces were "pre-Columbian," and were certainly the work of visitors from the Old World, if not the Norsemen themselves.

As a reporter for a major Ohio newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, I was skeptical about Mallery's claims. Could iron be smelted in a hole in the ground? Could Norse explorers have reached Ohio nearly 1,000 years ago and have remained there long enough to smelt iron ore?

But I was curious, so I decided to take a chance on Mallery as the subject of a newspaper story. Through family connections, I had met Mallery in 1949 when I was a high school student in Chillicothe, the Ross County seat. I was already quite interested in science and archaeology. When he returned to Ohio 1963 to collect samples of charcoal from his archaeological sites for radiocarbon dating, family members and friends suggested that I write something about Mallery and his furnaces. I proposed doing such a story to an editor at the Dispatch and got permission to write a feature story for the newspaper's Sunday Magazine section. A Dispatch photographer accompanied me to one of Mallery's furnace sites in Ross County in April, 1963, to pose Mallery for the color photo, which was to appear on the magazine's cover.

From the beginning, I was uncomfortable working with Mallery, because I wasn't able to maintain my strict journalistic detachment while working with him. The man was then 86 years old. He lacked both transportation and help in the summer of 1963, so I furnished both. Reluctantly, I helped him dig and collect artifacts, because I wanted to write about Mallery and his work and knew he wouldn't get it done without help. Looking back now, I realize this was a fortunate discomfort. What I learned helping Mallery enabled me to come back many years later and begin the work to solve the furnace mystery.

Mallery Becomes His Own Worst Enemy

A quirk of fate, however, prevented any story written by me about Mallery from appearing in the Dispatch Sunday Magazine, or anywhere else in the newspaper. The magazine section story was "on hold" pending results from radiocarbon testing of material taken from one of the furnaces that summer. A news story about the dating of the furnace would strengthen the appeal of the feature story to follow. But on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1963, a wire service news story announced that "scientists have found the remains of a Viking community in North America."

I knew this called for an immediate news story with a response from Mallery, because he had claimed finding several Viking community sites in Lost America, along with other evidence of the Norse presence in pre-Columbian America. In the 1951 book, Mallery told of finding Viking village sites and iron artifacts at Newfoundland Island sites in 1946. Now here came one Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian explorer, revealing that he found a Norse village site on Newfoundland Island's northern tip. Also, and of particular interest to Mallery, Ingstad reported finding pits at his Newfoundland site where the Norse used bog iron ore to smelt iron. Mallery, of course, had also claimed to have found pre-Columbian Viking bog iron furnaces in America, a little bit further inland than Newfoundland Island: southern Ohio!.

I obtained some quotes from Mallery and wrote a story about how Ingstad's discovery wasn't news to the author of "Lost America." I still have a copy of the three and a half pages I wrote for the Dispatch's state page that Wednesday, which was to run in the coming Sunday paper. The next day, Thursday, was my day off. Mallery unexpectedly appeared at the newspaper office and asked to see me to review my story. After learning I was off for the day, he demanded to see my story anyway. He took exception to some trivial parts of it and, in general, left a negative impression about his mental competence with one of the editors.

My earlier fears that Mallery's advanced age had eroded his reasoning powers were realized. Sadly, Mallery had become his own worst enemy. The story was pulled from the layout of the Sunday paper and set aside, pending possible revision. But I felt that Mallery might continue his meddling and decided not to attempt any further work with him for the Dispatch. Another newspaper printed a similar story that Monday and we were "scooped." So I had a good excuse to "kill" the story I wrote.

At the same time, I decided any further association with Mallery I might have would be to gather material future use after he could no longer object. Mallery thus missed one of his best and last chances of his life to spread the word about his iron furnaces and his evidence of the Norse on Newfoundland Island.

I Write About Mallery After His Death, 1968-1970

After Mallery's death in 1968 in the Lyons Veteran's Administration Hospital, Lyons, N.J., I wrote newspaper columns and magazine articles about the furnaces. By 1970 I had achieved my goal of becoming a science writer and columnist for the Daily News in Springfield, Ohio. My weekly column was entitled "Science Scene." As a columnist, I wanted to write about my experience with Mallery and his mysterious furnaces, so I read about the history of metallurgy. I learned that the first iron furnaces were indeed pit furnaces, and that they date back to 2,500 years or so ago in the Europe. I also found that pit iron furnaces were used until about 100 years ago in Africa.

Also in 1970, I was told Clyde Keeler, another amateur had begun a new round of investigation of Mallery's furnaces. He was working at Haskins No. 2, a newly found furnace site in a mound along Deer Creek in Ross County, just a few yards away from one of Mallery's furnaces mentioned in Lost America, Haskins No. 1. I visited the site, interviewed Keeler and wrote a story about the excavation for the Springfield newspaper.

Expert Advice Sought and Received, 1970

I was now convinced the Ohio pit furnaces were worthy of further investigation. I decided to seek expert advice. I knew American archaeologists weren't world class authorities on pit furnace iron making because all of the known sites were in the Old World. So I wrote to a British historian of metallurgy, Leslie Aitchison, author of A History of Metals. Studying photos and descriptions of the Overly furnace I sent to him, Aitchison identified the remains as "almost certainly" those of a pit iron furnace! I was no longer skeptical about Mallery's iron smelting theory and I have studied the furnaces ever since.

Away From My Furnace Sites, 1977-1989

In 1977 my work took me away from Ohio and the furnaces. I joined AT&T's Bell Laboratories in New Jersey as a science writer. In 1982, after the breakup of the AT&T Bell System, I became editor of a Washington newsletter, which reported on the satellite telecommunications and remote sensing industry. I enjoyed my work as a "high tech" journalist, but I longed to someday to see the mystery of the Ohio pit furnaces solved.

In 1989, seeking to be closer to family, aging parents, and the archaeological sites, and hoping for a less hectic pace of life than I had acquired in the Washington, D.C. area, I moved back to Ohio. And since I wasn't working as a journalist now, I no longer felt a need to be merely an observer. By June, 1990, I was in the field for the first time as an archaeological investigator, working at a Ross County furnace site.

Where The Mysterious Furnaces Occur

As I learned more about the subject, I realized that not all of America's mysterious furnaces were likely to be the remains of iron furnaces. There were other types, also. In general, including all types, such furnaces have been reported in Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and New Mexico. Also in Arizona, artifacts suggesting direct process iron smelting have been reported. Ohio ranks first (about 130) and Virginia second (16) in the number of such fire pit sites reported. Although both amateurs and professional archaeologists have investigated these fire pit sites for the past 200 years, they have been poorly understood and misinterpreted until just recently. Their study remains quite obscure outside of Ohio.

Since Ohio leads in the discovery and study of ancient fire pits, our tour of mysteries will begin there. Indeed, the first mysterious fire pits reported in America in were found Ohio.

Sorting Out Ohio's Wealth of Furnaces, 1990-97

In some areas of Ohio, the archaeological record, consisting of what one actually finds at an archaeological site, must be carefully analyzed to separate older materials from the newer. This is particularly true in Ross County, which is almost an archaeological site in its entirety. Ross was once dotted with 500 Indian mounds.

In the years since 1990, my colleagues and I have gathered proof that some Ohio furnaces were iron smelting pits and are quite likely historic. All such furnace sites found since 1990 occur in stream banks or natural elevations, such as hillsides and glacial kames. The debris found at these sites matches that found earlier in a few Ross County mounds by Mallery and Keeler. Other types of Ohio fire pits, occurring in the walls of hilltop enclosures and in mounds, we believe are prehistoric because they lack the complete assemblage of diagnostic artifacts we associate with iron smelting.

Ohio's Prehistoric Pit Iron Furnaces

Delaware County Prehistoric Furnace

Ohio's Prehistoric Indians--Did They Cast Copper Artifacts?

The prehistoric fire pits in Ohio seem all to have been the work of the Hopewell culture of the native Americans ( 200 B.C. to about 500 AD). These prehistoric fire pits lack complete evidence suggestive of iron smelting. However, slag and other materials associated with these sites show evidence of being exposed to high temperatures in the range associated with iron and copper metallurgy. For further discussion of these prehistoric furnaces, use the link below:

Ohio's Prehistoric Copper Furnaces

Are Furnaces Of Virginia and Georgia Historic?

Mysterious iron smelters were reportedly discovered in Virginia and Georgia. I have no experience with these sites in the field, nor have I examined any artifacts pertaining to them. Consequently, I will not categorize them as either prehistoric or presumed historic. For further discussion, use the following links:

Virginia's Mysterious Furnaces

Georgia's Mound Furnace

Southwestern Artifacts: Evidence of Furnaces?

Reports From Arizona, New Mexico

Organization Formed To Study The Furnaces, 1992

In 1990, I met David Orr, a Ross County farmer, through contacts in the local archaeological community. Orr was seeking someone who knew about the furnaces. He believed he had found a new furnace site after plowing up some unusual burned material. We decided to work together to study the mysterious fire pits. We formed an organization, the Archaeo-Pyrogenics Society (APGS), in 1992 to better conduct a scientific study of the furnaces and to publish results of their investigation.

For more information about the APGS, use the link below:

About The APGS

For more information about the author, use the link below:

About The Author

Visit America's Mysterious Furnaces Again

Bookmark this site for return visits. There is still more to say about the history of the furnace investigation from 1811 to the present. There will be news about current research, more photos of artifacts and furnaces. Our tour of mysteries visits several states. Of course, I can only vouch for the authenticity of furnace sites I have investigated (so far, only in Ohio). But it is the purpose of this site to list reports of similar phenomena elsewhere to promote their scientific investigation.

Bibliography

Site designed and maintained by William Conner of Columbus, Ohio.

Please mail comments to:

mail to: conner6343@sbcglobal.net

Science/Philosophy/Cosmology

Another web site by William Conner. Tells why time machines are impossible.

Does time flow from past to present to future? Or, do we just imagine this? Visit New Analysis of Time

Archaeology - Links To Other Sites

Old World Ancients In America Before Columbus? Ancient American Magazine

Ancient Israelites in Ohio? Some Archaeological Outliers

Old World Ancients In NE USA? New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA)

(NEARA also has good links list to other sites)

Ancient rock writing in America? Midwestern Epigraphic Society