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Tools and Equipment

Anvil

Metalworking and Blacksmithing Tools

The massive block against which hot metal is forged, its familiar London-pattern form carrying a flat face, a rounded horn for curves and a hardy hole for tooling. The oldest anvils were stones; the smith's anvil has been the counterpart of the hammer for as long as metal has been worked. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Disputed
Introduced When (Circa)
Antiquity (no precise date established) 1
Ancient Greek and Egyptian writings, including Homer, reference anvils, and anvils have been found at the Calico Early Man Site in North America, but sources do not give a precise date of first use.
Origin
From stone anvils of prehistory through bronze and iron to the modern cast and forged steel patterns 1
Introduced era (class)
Classical Antiquity 1
Connections

Used In

Blacksmithing, Crafts
Source Anvil (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Anvil (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section
Quote, History section
There are many references to anvils in ancient Greek and Egyptian writings, including Homer's works. They have been found at the Calico Early Man Site in North America.
View the Source
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Introduced When (Circa)

The sources do not converge on a single first-use date for the anvil. Wikipedia's own account: "Anvils were first made of stone, then bronze, and later wrought iron," with "many regional styles" evolving "from the simple block that was first used by smiths." Ancient Greek and Egyptian writings, including Homer's, reference anvils, and an anvil-like stone has been recovered at the Calico Early Man Site in North America. The record shows a long, gradual material transition rather than an inventable moment, which is why this atlas carries the fact as debated rather than assigning it a year.

A dissenting reading, from an independent laneAnvil (Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation
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