Turner Copper Smelting Furnaces

Amatuer Archaeologist Dr. Ellis Neiburger:

Ancient Copper Smelters Found Near Cincinnati

In my book "Iron Age America" I discuss evidence that large copper artifacts found at some prehistoric archaeological sites in North Ameria were made by hot working in furnaces.  Like the iron furnaces mentioned in my book, the copper furnaces were built by carving out bowls and air ducts in mounds, in creek banks and other nataual elevations.  In the case of mounds, there is reason to speculate that existing elevations were "borrowed" from their original purpose (burials) and used as furnace sites.  While Neiberger's work is discussed in detail in my book, his furnace diagrams were not included.  So these appear here with temperatures reached during his experimental test firings.

Neiburger's cross-section drawing of a Turner mound furnaces indicates their size and depth compared to man standing atop a mound:

My book "Iron Age America" also discusses evidence of copper smelting at Cahokia, the prehistoric "city" in Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.  It is significant that both prehistoric iron and copper works were found close to streams and rivers that were the "highways" of pre-Columbian America.