• Corpus ID: 137018184

An archaeometallurgical study of early medieval iron technology : an examination of the quality and use of iron alloys in iron artefacts from early medieval Britain

@inproceedings{Rubinson2010AnAS,
  title={An archaeometallurgical study of early medieval iron technology : an examination of the quality and use of iron alloys in iron artefacts from early medieval Britain},
  author={Samantha Rebecca Rubinson},
  year={2010}
}

• S. Rubinson
• Published 2010
• History

This project presents a study of iron technology in Early Medieval (fifth to eleventh centuries AD) Britain through the examination of iron found in settlement contexts. This is a period characterized by significant cultural, political and social changes. The effect of these changes on iron technology has never been investigated on a large scale. Previous studies on iron focused either on individual sites or on single artefact types, and did not provide any clear multi-region interpretive framework. A longstanding problem has been in identifying the extent of usage of a key alloy: phosphoric iron. This research project examined iron assemblages from eight settlement sites of varying size, culture, economic and social status from across Britain. From each settlement a mixed assemblage of iron artefacts was sampled, including edged tools, items of