Drakevarg
Troubadour
Can't seem to Google this without getting articles on health and microbiology, so I'll broach the subject here.
It's fairly well-known that the chief reason for Japan's particular approach to swordsmithing is that the country is fairly poor in iron, requiring the elaborate process of folding the impurities out of the steel it produces. What's less clear, as far as I can find, is why Japan's native supply of iron is so poor. What geological circumstances bring about such scarcity, and what other side effects are there of those circumstances? Doesn't necessarily need to be Japan's specific conditions, it was just the best example of an iron-scarce region that came to mind.
A further question, though one more of extrapolation and perhaps befitting the Worldbuilding board, is how do civilizations tend to adapt to developing in iron-poor regions?
It's fairly well-known that the chief reason for Japan's particular approach to swordsmithing is that the country is fairly poor in iron, requiring the elaborate process of folding the impurities out of the steel it produces. What's less clear, as far as I can find, is why Japan's native supply of iron is so poor. What geological circumstances bring about such scarcity, and what other side effects are there of those circumstances? Doesn't necessarily need to be Japan's specific conditions, it was just the best example of an iron-scarce region that came to mind.
A further question, though one more of extrapolation and perhaps befitting the Worldbuilding board, is how do civilizations tend to adapt to developing in iron-poor regions?
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