Iron in archaeology : early European blacksmiths

The volume offers a synthesis of knowledge concerning the early European blacksmith ́s craft as gained by interdisciplinary approach, from the point of view of history, archaeology and material science of metals. The beginnings of iron, tools, forging operations, smithies and their equipment as well as influence of technical metal in the history are treated. List of figures xii List of plates xiv Preface xv Foreword and introduction 1 I. Iron in Eurasian Bronze Ages 3 II. The Early Iron Ages 10 III. Iron and steel 18 Nomenclature 18 Physical properties of iron 19 Recent classification of iron and steel 21 IV. The blacksmith’s starting stock 23 Bipyramidal ingots 23 'Taleae ferreae' 32 Ancient Greek barter iron 37 Roman ingots 39 Early medieval tool-shaped blanks 43 Other medieval bars 50 V. Forging operations 53 The forming 53 Heat treatment 65 VI. The smith’s tools 71 The find complexes 71 Tools from smithies 71 Smithing tools from settlements 72 Smithing tools from graves 72 Smithing tools from hoards 74 The tools 75 Hammers 76 Tongs 81 Cutting and piercing tools 90 Iron anvils 93 Swages and dies 97 Files 99 Wire-drawing irons and clips 101 Metal sheet shears 105 Forge spoons 105 VII. Smithing wastes 109 Fuel 109 Fuel ash 110 Hammer scale 110 Smithing slags 112 The problem of the slag cakes 112 Amorphous smithing slag 120 Iron scrap 122 VIII. Smithing installations 123 The hearths 123 Other installations 131 The bellows and bellows protection 131 The anvil as smithing equipment 133 Water tanks 133 Fuel stores and waste deposits 134 IX. The smithies 135 Urban smithies of the early antiquity 135 Roman urban smithies 138 Roman rural and road smithies 146 Smithies in Roman 'villae rusticae' 149 Iron Age smithies in central and northern Europe 151 Celtic and Dacian smithies 153 Germanic rural smithies 156 Smithies in early medieval pre-urban centres 160 Smithies in medieval towns 164 Medieval rural smithies 169 Medieval castle smithies 174 Monastic smithies 177 Smithies at mines 178 X. The smith’s products 184 Iron inlays 184 Iron artefacts in graves and hoards 185 Iron finds fromsettlement layers and the scope of artefact production 190 XI. Metallography of early irons: Reconstructed technologies 194 Simple techniques 196 Working of low carbon and heterogeneous wrought iron 196 All-steel artefacts 198 Forge welding of carbon-poor iron 199 Advanced techniques 200 Additional carburizing 200 Forge welding of iron and hardenable steel 202 Plating with steel 202 Steel shells 203 Iron-steel-sandwich 204 Welding-in the steel 206 Scarf welding-on of steel 208 Butt-welding of steel 211 Top techniques 212 Striped blades 212 Pattern-welding 214 Pattern-welded swords 215 Pattern-welded lanceheads 219 Pattern-welded knives 220 Armour making 222 Locksmithing 224 Clock making 225 XII. Concise history of early European blacksmithing 226 The beginning of the use of iron and the first smiths 226 Blacksmiths in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome 228 Celtic ironworkers 231 Beyond the Roman frontier: the Germanic, Cimmerian and Scythian tribes 233 Blacksmith’s work in the High Middle Ages 236 Glossary of technical terms 240 Glossary of historical and archaeological terms 244 Acknowledgements 258 Bibliography 259 Selected abbreviations 321 Indexes 322 Plates 341