Bloomery ironmaking in Latvia: a comparative study of Iron Age and medieval technologies (original) (raw)
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Monographies Instrumentum 73, Proceedings of the 5th International conference "Archaeometallurgy in Europe", 19-21 June 2019, Miskolc, Hungary, 2021, 2021
This paper presents results of recent research by the Archaeology Team of the Basque Country Mining Museum aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the technology of medieval bloomery iron smelting in the Basque Country region. A mainstay of this technology is found in a particular kind of smelting furnace, presumably of wide use during the later Middle Ages, but likely to have originated much earlier. A complete series of radiocarbon (14C) dates from charcoal used as fuel indicates that the bulk of the industry that survives was concentrated in the Late Middle Ages; but also that the iron resources were exploited earlier by means of similar economic and technological strategies and points to a time frame which would cover from the 5th century BC to the 14th century AD. Intensive archaeological work has revealed almost 350 ironworks framed within this chronology. Overall, these sites represent relatively small-scale smelting sites, typically located in the mountains, equipped with a single furnace, and identifiable on the surface by the presence of large slag heaps. The paper reconstructs the engineering parameters of this process through microscopic analysis of an assemblage of technical materials such as slag, furnace walls and pieces of ore recovered from archaeological interventions in six sites ranging in date from pre-Roman to late medieval. The results show that, in spite of the chronological span, there was a common technological procedure in smelting bloomery iron, using a particular type of sunk funnel-shape tap furnace, as well as a common economic strategy for organizing the production, as small-scale ironworks next to the ore deposits where smelting and bloom consolidation were carried on.
Archaeometallurgy in Europe 5, Miskolc, Hungary, Mergoill edi, 2021
This paper presents results of recent research by the Archaeology Team of the Basque Country Mining Museum aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the technology of medieval bloomery iron smelting in the Basque Country region. A mainstay of this technology is found in a particular kind of smelting furnace, presumably of wide use during the later Middle Ages, but likely to have originated much earlier. The bulk of the industry that survives was concentrated in the Late Middle Ages; but also that the iron resources were exploited earlier and points to a time frame which would cover from the 5th century BC to the 14th century AD. Intensive archaeological work has revealed almost 350 ironworks framed within this chronology. Overall, these sites represent relatively small-scale smelting sites, typically located in the mountains, equipped with a single furnace, and identifiable on the surface by the presence of large slag heaps. The paper reconstructs the engineering parameters of this process through microscopic analysis of an assemblage of technical materials. The results show that, in spite of the chronological span, there was a common technological procedure in smelting bloomery iron, using a particular type of sunk funnel-shape tap furnace, as well as a common economic strategy for organizing the production, as small-scale ironworks next to the ore deposits where smelting and bloom consolidation were carried on.
Early medieval iron bloomery centre at Zamárdi (Hungary)
Archeologické rozhledy
Archaeological excavations at Zamárdi (Hungary) revealed one of the largest early medieval iron smelting centres in Central Europe with about a hundred ore-roasting pits, twenty bloomery furnaces, reheating furnaces and a forge. In addition, a related Avar settlement dating from the 7th to 9th centuries was also unearthed, with remains of carriage roads, about twenty houses with stone furnaces and a number of open-air furnaces. The bloomery remains fit into the series of furnaces of the 7th and 8th centuries foundpreviously on other sites in former Pannonia. As a part of a complex research project, more than a hundred slag samples from Zamárdi were examined by XRF, ICP, XRD and SEM-EDS. Different slag types and their metallurgical roles were identified. We concluded that the nature of archaeometallurgical sites can be confidently determined by the typological examination of several kinds of slag.
Prehistoric Iron Bloomery Debris on a Small Island in Lake Aisetas (Eastern Lithuania)
Acta Archaeologica , 2021
The archaeological discoveries of metallurgical waste in Lithuania have established that metallurgical activities were commonly connected to settlements. However, recent investigations suggest that even in the case of small-scale production on a homestead industry level, small isolated smelting bloomeries could have existed outside settlements. The work presented in this article introduces the material acquired from the newly discovered prehistoric site on a small island in Lake Aisetas in Eastern Lithuania. The data was acquired through surface and soil sampling surveys, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and small-scale excavations. Metallurgical waste weighing 150 kg was collected without additional evidence to facilitate archaeological interpretation of the finds and their origins. This article aims to characterise the metallurgical waste and deduce the nature of the activity and processes that produced these by-products on the island. Through an exploration of recovery circumstances and a macroscopic examination as well as composition and microstructure analysis of the metallurgical waste, this study intends to answer the following questions: what constitutes the metallurgical waste found on the island; what conclusions can be drawn regarding the ironworking techniques, production scope, and chronology; and how favourable was the studied area for early iron production?