alt Hacker NewsDo a web search for "Wootz steel", "Damascus blades" and "Iron pillars India". The ancient world certainly had expertise in advanced metallurgy. Wootz steel was actually nanotech.
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ReptileMan • yesterday at 2:02 PM
Except it wasn't. It relied on contaminated ore, which nobody understood really why it worked. Unlike bronze that was well understood.
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But that doesn't mean the average person will produce all that stuff from a standing start within 12 months just because they would like to drill a hole.