For those who'd like to see similar techniques in action, a popular Youtuber recently made an iron arrowhead using iron age(?) metallurgical techniques [0].

He gathers water containing iron-oxidizing bacteria, he extracts the ore using a sieve, he then smelts the ore with a handmade blast furnace and charcoal he made himself. He then separates prills from the slag and forges them into a knife with a clay mold and said blast furnace. After all that, he has the worlds worst and knife.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhW4XFGQB4o