wootz (steel)

wootz (steel), Steel produced by a method known in ancient India. The process involved preparation of porous iron, hammering it while hot to release slag, breaking it up and sealing it with wood chips in a clay container, and heating it until the pieces of iron absorbed carbon from the wood and melted. The steel thus produced had a uniform composition of 1–1.6% carbon and could be heated and forged into bars for later use in fashioning articles, such as the famous medieval Damascus swords. See also bloomery process.