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Reviewed Article Keywords: Keywords: iron; furnace, kiln or oven; Era(s); Iron Age; Roman Era; Country; United Kingdom EN iron furnace, kiln or oven Era(s) Iron Age Roman Era Country United Kingdom The material record for bloomery furnaces in Iron Age andRoman Britain is fragmentary and, because of this paucityof evidence, the reconstruction of the ceramic structuresused in iron production is difficult. This experimental campaign showed that a specific furnaceheight is not required for an iron bloom to be producedbut that a taller furnace provides different regions oftemperature in a reducing environment thus allowing thesmelting process to take place gradually as the iron oredescends through the furnace. The shorter shaft furnace, managed to achieved thetemperatures needed to separate slag from iron bloom,however due to the lower quantities of charcoal in theshaft (50 cm compared to 80 cm), the ore took less timeto move through the furnace and reducing environment. This experimental campaign showed that a specific furnaceheight is not required for an iron bloom to be producedbut that a taller furnace provides different regions oftemperature in a reducing environment thus allowing thesmelting process to take place gradually as the iron oredescends through the furnace. [Extracted from the article]