When reading history that involves people from the Steppe, Mongols, Huns, Xiongnu (I hope I'm spelling that right lol) etc. one question always pops up in my head; If they were nomadic pastoralists, how did they gather metal?
Would they have time to manage a mine if they were constantly on the move? Did they simply plunder enough from settled societies to provide adequate supplies for war?
Thanks in advance
Edit: Grammar
As far as I know, northern Asia as well as Russia used bog iron as their primary source of iron up to the time when the Russians started to mine the Ural mountains in the 16th century.
Bog iron is the result of water bringing iron particles with it from the mountains, and the iron settling in bogs, slow streams or shallow lakes.
Gathering bog iron usually means you scavenge the bottom wet areas for stones containing iron ore and then smelt them to extract (impure) iron and then work that iron to purer iron or steel.
This process does not require mining and does not need the same level of infrastructure.
hi! always room for more input; meanwhile, get started on previous responses
How did nomadic people like the mongols get the metal for their weapons?