Yeah, they're a bit different.
By "damascene" the writer would be referring to what we call pattern welded steel, or mechanical damascus---damascus steel. This is produced by forge welding alternating layers of ferric material of varying carbon content. This is a similar process to the making of a billet of pamor, but in pamor we prepare the material for further use as the "skin" of a wafer of steel.
Thus, in a pamor blade we have the pamor material on either side of the steel core. The steel core is the part of the blade that can take a heat treat to produce a cutting edge.The pamor is iron, or iron and nickel, and acts as a protective coat for the hardened steel core.Iron will not harden with a heat treat---steel will.
In a damascus blade we have a material that incorporates the qualities that will allow a heat treat for a cutting edge, going all the way through the blade---its the same stuff all the way through and capable of taking a heat treat all the way through.
Pretty much the same process to make both, just with a different end use and different qualities.
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