Metallurgical analyses and mechanical tests were performed on two ancient
iron nails (dated to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) found at a
private estate in the village of Limone sul Garda, which is located on Lake
Garda in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. The nails were characterized
via various metallurgical methods to assess their matrix composition,
microstructure, and nonmetallic inclusion type, morphology, and distribution.
These investigations elucidated the manufacturing process of the nails. The
results indicated that the nails were produced by different forging techniques,
and it was hypothesized that the steel utilized was obtained via two different
methods (direct and indirect ore reduction), which were still in use at that
time
