scholarly journals Say it in Iron. Symbols of Transformation and Reproduction in the European Iron Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Randi Haaland
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Human Reproduction ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
European Research ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Technological Factors ◽  
Ritual Activity ◽  
Iron Working

The European research on iron has traditionally focused on the technical and economic aspects of iron production, However, a view of metal working in a wider regional context shows that it is generally entrenched in symbolic meaning and ritual activity. In this paper, the author employs four ethnographic case studies to show the importance of symbolic and ritual aspects of iron working and how these are intertwined with technological factors. What comes across are also the metaphorical links between pottery vessels, food, and furnaces used to produce iron. When looking at the European material, one can discern the same associations in the ftnds of cauldrons used for offerings of food as in the finds of cauldrons used for offerings of iron, such as iron weapons. The former are placed in a context ofnurturing and human reproduction, while the latter are placed in a context of destruction. This indicates the ambiguity of iron as associated with nourishment-fertility and with destruction and death

Metal-Working in Homer

1954 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. F. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Industrial Material ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Transitional Age ◽  
Iron Working ◽  
Type 3

In discussing the transition from bronze to iron in Anatolia, Dr. Stefan Przeworski incidentally identifies Homeric conditions with the stage in the historical development of metallurgy which he calls Chalcosideric. Professor Nilsson and Miss Lorimer have argued briefly but effectively that the poems contain elements from different periods; but belief in an historical ‘Homeric Society’ dies hard and justifies a more detailed examination of all the references to metals in the poems.Przeworski's transitional age began about 1300 B.C. in Anatolia and about a century later in Greece; in both it ended about 700 B.C. Before it began, bronze was the useful material for all industrial purposes, and the rare uses of iron were ornamental or magical. After it ended, iron was the normal industrial material, and the more malleable bronze was used for fine work or elaborate modelling. The characteristics of the intermediate period are: 1. Imitation of Late Bronze Age types in iron. 2. Simultaneous appearance of bronze and iron objects of the same purpose and type. 3. Inlay of bronze objects with iron. 4. Combination in the same weapon or tool of iron working and bronze ornamental parts. 5. Addition of iron working parts to bronze objects such as cult-wagons and utensils. 6. Use of bronze rivets on iron weapons and tools. 7. Repair of bronze objects with iron parts (Przeworski 175–6.) Most of these characteristics are so technical that they are unlikely to be reflected in poetry. Moreover, so many bronze objects were in common use at all periods, including the full Iron Age, that the most significant evidence may be taken to be the relative value of the metals, the relative frequency of bronze and iron weapons and tools, and the degree of familiarity shown with the methods of the forge as distinct from the foundry.

Interim report on the structures at Howe, Stromness, Orkney

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
S P Carter ◽  
D Haigh ◽  
N R J Neil ◽  
Beverley Smith
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Interim Report ◽  
Complex Series ◽  
Settlement Site ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Iron Working

Summary Excavations at Howe revealed a complex series of settlements which spanned the whole of the Iron Age period and were preceded by two phases of Neolithic activity. A probable stalled cairn was succeeded by a Maes Howe type chambered tomb which was later followed by enclosed settlements of which only scant remains survived. These settlements were replaced by a roundhouse with earth-house, built into the ruins of the chambered tomb. The roundhouse was surrounded by a contemporary defended settlement. Rebuilding led to the development of a broch structure and village. Partial collapse of tower brought about changes in the settlement, andalthougk some houses were maintained as domestic structures, others were rebuilt as iron-working sheds. The construction of smaller buildings and a later Iron Age or Pictish extended farmstead into rubble collapse accompanied a decline in the size of the settlement. The abandonment of the farmstead marked the end of Howe as a settlement site.

Ores Sources, Smelters and Archaeometallurgy: Exploring Iron Age Metal Production in the Southern Waterberg, South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foreman Bandama ◽  
Shadreck Chirikure ◽  
Simon Hall
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Metal Production ◽  
European Colonization ◽  
Sem Analyses

The Southern Waterberg in Limpopo Province is archaeologically rich, especially when it comes to evidence of pre-colonial mining and metal working. Geologically, the area hosts important mineral resources such as copper, tin and iron which were smelted by agriculturalists in the precolonial period. In this region however, tin seems to be the major attraction given that Rooiberg is still the only source of cassiterite in southern Africa to have provided evidence of mining before European colonization. This paper reports the results of archaeological and archaeometallurgical work which was carried out in order to reconstruct the technology of metalworking as well as the cultural interaction in the study area and beyond. The ceramic evidence shows that from the Eiland Phase (1000–1300 AD) onwards there was cross borrowing of characteristic decorative traits amongst extant groups that later on culminated in the creation of a new ceramic group known as Rooiberg. In terms of mining and metal working, XRF and SEM analyses, when coupled with optical microscopy, indicate the use of indigenous bloomery techniques that are widespread in pre-colonial southern Africa. Tin and bronze production was also represented and their production remains also pin down this metallurgy to particular sites and excludes the possibility of importing of finished tin and bronze objects into this area.

The Transition from Bronze to Iron in Canaan: Chronology, Technology, and Context

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naama Yahalom-Mack ◽  
Adi Eliyahu-Behar
Keyword(s):  
Research Council ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
European Research ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Iron Technology

In the framework of the European Research Council-funded project, “Reconstructing Ancient (Biblical) Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective,” we carried out multiple analyses on iron and bronze objects from provenanced contexts in Israel, as well as on previously unidentified metallurgical remains from the production of both metals. In addition, we counted anew iron and bronze objects from well-stratified contexts and studied metalworking sequences at major sites, which included those that had undergone the bronze/iron transition. This enabled us to clarify some of the issues related to the bronze/iron transition in the southern Levant. Using this evidence, we showed that iron was not used for utilitarian purposes before the Iron I (late 12th century BCE) and that iron only became dominant concurrently with the beginning of its systematic production during the Iron IIA (10th–9th centuries BCE). A strong correlation between iron and bronze production suggests that during the Iron I local independent bronzesmiths adopted the new iron technology. Under local administrations that developed during the Iron IIA, workshops that previously produced bronze turned to iron production, although they continued to manufacture bronze items as a secondary venture. Significantly, at some of the major urban centers iron production was an independent industry that included the entire operational sequence, including the on-site smelting of the ore. This development appears to have been a major contributor to the transition to systematic production of iron.

Excavations and Metal-working at Llwyn Bryn-dinas Hillfort, Llangedwyn, Clwyd

1992 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Musson ◽  
W. J. Britnell ◽  
J. P. Northover ◽  
C. J. Salter ◽  
P. Q. Dresser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Copper Alloy ◽  
Radiocarbon Date ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Alloy Casting ◽  
The North ◽  
Local Evidence

Small-scale rescue excavations at Llwyn Bryn-dinas hillfort, on the Welsh Borderland, showed that the earliest fortification belonged to the late Bronze Age, with radiocarbon dates in the late 9th and 8th centuries be. A terrace, subsequently cut into the rear of the rampart to accommodate a metal-working floor, was associated with a radiocarbon date centred in the late 3rd century bc. Detailed analysis of the metal-working debris suggests that copper-alloy casting, iron forging and possibly bronze production were carried out within a single workshop. The finds include a distinctive form of handled crucible. The industry appears to have been fairly small-scale, of short duration, and probably only designed to meet the internal needs of the hillfort population. The excavation adds significantly to the local evidence for metal-working during the later prehistoric period. A distinctive zinc-impurity pattern in the copper alloy and raw copper, previously identified in material from other sites nearby, confirms the suggestion of an Iron Age bronze-working industry based on a specific metal source in the north Powys area. In addition, analysis of the iron-working debris suggests the exploitation of a distinctive local ore body. The metal-working activity appears to have come to an abrupt end, possibly with the enlargement or local repair of the rampart. Later phases of activity include a final occupation deposit with an associated radiocarbon date centred in the mid 2nd century bc.

scholarly journals FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE CENTER OF METALWORKING IN NORTH PONTIC REGION IN THE EARLY IRON AGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 506-513
Author(s):  
S. Yа. Olgovskyi
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
The Urals ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Ferrous Metals ◽  
Non Ferrous Metals ◽  
Foundry Workers

The paper is attempt to identify the hotbed of metalworking in the Northern Black Sea region in the 6th—5th centuries BC. At the same time, an explanation is given that the hotbed of metalworking should be understood not as a complex of specialized metal-working centers, but as a region of similar production with uniform typological, chemical and metallurgical characteristics, and unified production technology. Contrary to outdated claims, the level of foundry in the forest-steppe Scythian centers in the archaic time was incomparably higher than in the Greek colonies, and it was the local craftsmen who provided the population of the Northern Black Sea region with products made of non-ferrous metals. Many craftsmen worked in the off-premise way, that is, they led a mobile (wandering) lifestyle, extending their activities to the Greek colonies. Some alloys, with an admixture of antimony and arsenic in particular, indicate the links of the foundry workers to the mines of the Volga region and the Urals. However, it is not possible to speak of metal coming from there directly into the Greek colonies. There were no trade routes from Olbia to the eastern regions, since no Greek thing is known on any of the monuments of the Ananian culture. On the contrary, Scythian ornaments and weapons are quite common. Therefore, it was through the Scythian merchants and metallurgists that the metal with an admixture of antimony entered the Northern Black Sea region and the Greek colonies in particular.

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