Subject: What was the Chalybes'/Hittites' secret.?

For some 200 years (1400-1200 BC) the Hittites had a secret regarding the making
of iron. It wasn't smelting, since that was already known to the Chinese and
others. And it wasn't the making of steel, because steel is just iron containing
carbon, and iron had to contain carbon at that time anyway in order for it to be
smeltable at the temperatures that could then be attained. Was the secret the
process of repeated hammering and quenching? The reason I ask is because I am
taking up the question in a book I am writing. 

Re: What was the Chalybes'/Hittites' secret.?