Iron in Archaeology. Early European Blacksmiths

prof. dr. R. Pleiner, DrSc (404/02/0751) 2002-2004

Iron in Archaeology. Early European blcksmiths deals with the early blacksmith's craft in Europe (prepared in English) and links up with the monograph `Iron in Archaeology: The European Bloomery Smelters', Praha 2000. The volume will present sources concerning the early ironworking (smithies in European regions, blacksmith's tools, wastes, artefacts) in both advanced civilizations of antiquity and the rural barbaricum as well as in the Early and High Middle Ages in technological and economical aspects. A specific attention will be paid to the reconstruction of the technology of manufacture applied to forged objects in the light of metallographic research; this is being realized in many European countries and in the Czech Republic as well (there are thousands of published investigations). The monograph is conceived as an international and interdisciplinary project, supplementing the book devoted to the bloomery smelting.