Archaeology
Evidence of steel tools being used in Europe during Late Bronze Age
Researchers have discovered that steel tools were being used on the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Bronze Age 2,900 years ago.
An international study has conducted a geochemical analysis on stone pillar stelae found in the Iberian Peninsula, revealing that engravings on the rock face were created using tempered steel.
This is supported by a metallographic analysis of an iron chisel from the same period found at Rocha do Vigio, which has the necessary carbon content to be classified as steel.
Until recently, it was assumed that the inhabitants of the region lacked the skill and understanding to produce steel in the Early Iron Age, and certainly not in the Late Bronze Age, which only became widespread through contact and conquest by the Romans. The Iberian Bronze Age started around 1800 BC, concluding with the Iberian Iron Age sometime during the 9th century BC.
Dr. Ralph Araque Gonzalez, an archaeologist from the University of Freiburg, said: “The chisel from Rocha do Vigio and the context where it was found, shows that iron metallurgy, which includes the production and tempering of steel, were probably indigenous developments of decentralised small communities in Iberia, and not due to the influence of later colonisation processes.”
The results of the study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, conducted an analysis of stelae pillars made from silicate quartz sandstone. “Just like quartzite, this is an extremely hard rock that cannot be worked with bronze or stone tools, but only with tempered steel,” says Gonzalez.
A closer inspection of the chisel from Rocha do Vigio, reveals that it consists of heterogeneous yet astonishingly carbon-rich steel. To confirm their findings, the researchers carried out an experiment involving a professional stonemason, a blacksmith and a bronze caster, and attempted to work examples of silicate quartz sandstone using chisels of different materials.
The stonemason was unable to work the stone with either the stone or the bronze chisels, or even using an iron chisel with an untempered point. “The people of the Late Bronze Age in Iberia were capable of tempering steel. Otherwise, they would not have been able to work the pillars,” concludes Araque Gonzalez as a result of the experiment.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105742
Header Image Credit : University of Freiburg
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists excavating the grounds of Govan Old Church in Glasgow, England, have discovered an early medieval carved stone figure dubbed the “Govan Warrior”.
Govan Old Church is the home of the Govan Stone Museum, a collection of early medieval and Viking-Age sculptures found in the grounds, including 30 sculptures from a lost kingdom of Old Welsh-speaking Britons known as the Ystrad Clud who dominated the Clyde valley from the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
Excavations have been conducted by the University of Glasgow and Clyde Archaeology, in which a carved stone of a warrior was uncovered during a community fun day organised as part of the Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival.
The carved stone depicts a man standing side on and carrying a round shield and a shaft. According to the researchers, the discovery dates from around 1,000-years-ago and is unlike any of the other carved stones found at Govan Old.
According to a press statement by the University of Glasgow: “The Govan Warrior is unique within the existing collection due to its stylistic characteristics, which has drawn parallels with Pictish art and carvings from the Isle of Man. Unlike the other stones in the Govan collection, whose chunky style of carving is so distinctive that it has been described as a school of carving in its own right (the ‘Govan School’), the Govan Warrior is lightly incised, which may bring parallels with famous Pictish stones like the Rhynie Man from Aberdeenshire.”
Professor Stephen Driscoll said: “It’s a style that makes us think both about the Pictish world and also about the Isle of Man and it’s interesting that we are halfway between these two places. Govan is the ideal place for these two artistic traditions or styles to come together.”
Header Image Credit : Govan Heritage Trust
An excavation project, in collaboration with archaeologists from Södertörn University, Uppsala University’s Campus Gotland, Gotland Museum, and the Swedish National Heritage Board, has led to the discovery of an Iron Age port on Gotska Sandön.
Gotska Sandön is an island and national park in Sweden’s Gotland County, situated 24 miles north of Faro in the Baltic Sea.
Earlier in 2023, archaeologists found two 2,000-year-old Roman coins on one of the island’s beaches. Both coins are made of silver, with one coin dating from AD 98-117 during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and the other coin dating from AD 138-161 during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius
In the latest excavations, archaeologists have now discovered evidence of twenty hearths on the same beach as the Roman coins discovery.
According to Johan Rönnby, a professor of marine archaeology at Södertörn University, the site is an Iron Age port, not in the sense of quays we imply in the modern era, but instead a place where Iron Age people regularly landed their boats and formed an encampment.
Although the purpose of the encampment is speculated, the researchers suggest that it may have been linked to an emerging seal hunting industry.
“Seal hunters may have come from the island of Gotland and landed on Sandön to boil seal blubber. This could have been what the hearths were used for, but we don’t yet know – there may be other reasons why the site looks like it does, such as it being a trading post,” said Rönnby.
Excavations and carbon-14 dating of one of the hearths has indicated that they also date from 2,000-years-ago, suggesting a possible link between the encampment and the Roman coins.
Header Image Credit : idw
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