Iron as a raw material

Research Projects

• (A-5-1) Iron smelting in the Teltow

  The Teltow, a ground moraine south of Berlin, is one of the pioneering regions in early iron smelting in central Europe. Evidence shows that iron has been produced and processed in this region since the fourth century BC (LT B1). Furthermore, there are initial indications that iron smelting technology was introduced as early as the fifth century BC (Ha D/LT A).

• (A-5-2) Iron mining in the Przeworsk Culture

  The spread of technical innovations such as iron smelting required the availability of natural resources, first of all iron ores, and manual skills along with social acceptability and necessity. The project investigated the beginnings of iron smelting in the area of the Przeworsk culture (Poland) based on the hypothesis that the earliest stages of local and regional iron production coincide with the emergence of the Przeworsk culture within the 2nd century BC.

• (A-5-3) The beginnings of iron

  This project focused on the cultural, economic and social role of iron in the ancient Near East during the Late Bronze Age, with particular attention paid to the evidence from the Hittite Anatolia.

• (A-5-4) Iron mining and smelting in the (northern) Tyrrhenian Sea (Sardinia, Elba, Populonia)

  The project focused on a topo-chronological reassessment of iron smelting on Elba in Antiquity and the environmental impacts of ancient metallurgy on the island.

• (A-5-5) Iron smelting in the Baltic region

  This project conducted fundamental research into deposits and smelting sites in the southwestern Baltic region. In the course of the project, the group analyzed, recorded and mapped sites that may have met the prerequisites for independent iron smelting.

• (A-5-6) Early Iron in Eastern Europe

  The spread of iron metallurgy into Europe has been a long lasting debate since the beginnings of iron production are hardly comprehensible. Apparently, the southern part of Eastern Europe played a major role in the introduction of this complex pyrotechnology doubtless due to its integration into the Circumpontic network and the proximity to the Near East. The research project aimed to highlight the development of the earliest use of iron in Eastern Europe.

• (A-5-7) Iron technology in the museum

  The revision and new conception of the prehistoric exhibition at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in Berlin affected, among other things, the museum’s Pre-Roman Iron Age division, featuring artifacts from ancient Europe and Eurasia. In setting up the new exhibition at “Neues Museum”, the focus was not only on portraying Iron Age cultural groups, but also and especially on the subject of iron and iron smelting as a new raw material and a new technology.

Dissertations

• (A-5-2-1) Human and Environment Interactions in the Environs of Prehistorical Iron Smelting Places in Silesia and Brandenburg

  Within the framework of the interdisciplinary research project (A-5-2) “Iron mining in the Przeworsk Culture”, this doctoral thesis dealed with the human-environment interactions of early iron smelting in the Widawa catchment area in Lower Silesia, Poland.

• (A-5-2-2) The beginnings of iron smelting in the area of the Przeworsk culture

  The spread of technical innovations such as iron smelting required basic natural resources (iron ore) and manual skills along with social acceptability and necessity. The dissertation investigated the beginnings of iron smelting in the area of the Przeworsk culture (Poland). It is assumed that the earliest stages of local and regional iron production coincide with the emergence of the Przeworsk culture within the 2nd century BC.

• (A-5-4-1) Iron, landscape and humans on Elba in 1st millennium BCE

  The doctoral project A-5-4-1 represents the archaeological part of the interdisciplinary Topoi research project (A-5-4) Iron mining and smelting in the (northern) Tyrrhenian Sea. The dissertation deals beside the topography and chronology of iron smelting sites also with the impact of iron mining and smelting on the landscape of Elba Island in the 1st millennium BCE. In addition, it concentrates on a diachronic investigation of the antique mining work/slavery and on an economic historical classification of the Elban iron production in the Mediterranean context.

• (A-5-4-2) Iron mining and smelting in the Tyrrhenian Sea

  The Topoi dissertation project A-5-4-2 constitutes the physical-geographical part of the interdisciplinary research project (A-5-4) Iron mining and smelting in the (northern) Tyrrhenian Sea. The dissertation focuses on a landscape-archaeological perspective on human–environment interactions on Elba Island (Tyrrhenian Sea; Tuscany, Italy) during the period of pre-industrial iron smelting (5th century BCE– 1st century BCE/CE and 10th to 13th century CE).

Third-party Funded Project

• (A-5-COFUND-1) Phoenician and indigenous spaces in Southern Iberia: innovation, interaction and transformation in the ancient economy of metals

  The project focused on investigating the relationship between Phoenicians and indigenous Iberians during the Early Iron Age (9th-7th c. BC) with respect to the exploitation of mining resources and production of metals in southern Spain.