The Celtic World (Routledge Worlds)

(Barry) #1

  • Ironworking in the Celtic World -


largely absent from habitation sites of the earlier Iron Age, so thorough was the
collection for reprocessing. Only towards the end of the period does this situation
change and ironwork begin to appear on domestic sites in any amount.
The earliest iron artefacts generally have the same form as contemporary bronze
ones. Thus the Mindelheim sword is found both in bronze and iron, as are harness
fittings, especially bridle bits, and some tools, such as axes and reaping-hooks. There
is little doubt that these weapons and tools were designed primarily for production
in bronze; they stand at the end of a long series of bronze types and have all the
hallmarks of objects which were designed to be cast. The gently swelling, grooved
sword blades, or the elaborate mouldings around the sockets of the axes and reaping-
hooks were easily executed in the models which formed the basis of late bronze
age castings, but they required the most laborious work when forged in iron. The
closeness with which the iron artefacts follow the old design has led some writers to
suggest that they were produced by bronzesmiths who had turned to the new metal,
or by blacksmiths who had not mastered the capabilities of iron and lacked the skill
to do more than blindly reproduce existing forms. The former may be true, but the
latter is manifestly wrong, for the greatest technical skill was required to copy in
wrought iron forms which were originally designed to be cast in bronze. As far as
technical skill is concerned, Celtic ironworking appears in the archaeological record
as a fully developed craft. If lack of skill does not explain the copying of bronze
types, we must assume that it was required by custom. Both the craftsman and his
patron would have viewed an implement as the total of its parts, and those parts
included form as well as function. It was to be many generations before the Celtic
smith was able to free himself from the restraints of design concepts which were
essentially alien to his craft.
Our knowledge of the Celtic smith is derived almost entirely from his products,
and this requires some consideration of the processes by which such material
was preserved, processes which were neither random nor likely to provide a cross-
section of all of the types in use. For much of the Iron Age we have two main sources
of ironwork, hoards and burials. Unfortunately hoards become increasingly rare as
the Iron Age progresses and only reappear in large numbers relatively late in
the period. Graves provide a more even chronological coverage, but they produce a
limited range of types, mainly prestige pieces such as weapons, horse gear and vehicle
fittings. Relatively little ironwork is known from the habitation sites of the earlier
Iron Age. As a result we must be very cautious in assuming that the absence of an
artefact type, or even a whole class of artefacts, from the archaeological record means
that they really were unknown in the Iron Age. Indeed, had that been the case, we
would have no ironwork at all, for we lack many of the tools necessary to produce
the ironwork which does survive.
We have relatively little knowledge of the organization of the iron industry in the
Celtic world, although most major settlement sites produce evidence of bronze-and
iron-working. We know of it at such important late Hallstatt sites as the Heuneburg
and Mont Lassois, while at Bragny-sur-Saone metalworking debris covers several
hectares. The interpretation of such discoveries depends to a considerable extent
upon our interpretation of the sites themselves. If they are accepted as being the
strongholds of princes, then the craftsmen working there form part of the entourage

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