- Chapter Twelve -
equipment for the hearth, locks and keys, and fittings for harnesses and wagons.
Metallographic analyses indicate techniques employed in the manufacture of tools.
Pleiner (I968) has shown that already at the start of the Iron Age, around 800 Be,
some smiths had mastered the techniques for producing fine, hard and sharp cutting-
edges by carburizing blades to make the iron-carbon alloy, steel. By the final
centuries before Christ, smiths were regularly applying specialized welding tech-
niques for producing sharp steel blades and utilizing other properties of iron, such
as the toughness of wrought iron, for implements such as nails. Pleiner (I962)
provides an overview of the techniques utilized by Celtic smiths.
Weapons
At the start of the Iron Age, some swords, spearheads and helmets were still made
of bronze, but several centuries later, iron had nearly completely replaced bronze for
weapons. The principal categories were swords, spearheads and shields (the body
of the shield was usually of wood, the boss and rim of iron); and, less frequently,
helmets. The characteristic burial practice of the period between 400 and I50 Be
included placement of weapons in many of the men's graves (Figure I2.4) - typically
in between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of men's burials - indicating that a very large
number of iron weapons were manufactured. Some weapons, especially swords,
were decorated, and the helmets - restricted to a small number of individuals - were
sometimes elaborately ornate. Helmets from Agris and Amfreville, both in France,
are intricately decorated in gold over iron bases, and the Agris specimen is further
ornamented with coral, that from Amfreville with enamel (Megaw and Megaw I989:
72, pI. X, XI; II2, fig. I54).
The technology of sword manufacture deserves special attention. Swords from
about 400 Be to the end of the Celtic Iron Age were long, two-edged, with straight
parallel blades and hilt of organic material (Figure I2.4, I). Analyses show that
complex techiques such as packet-welding were employed in manufacture, and the
result was characteristically an excellent piece of military hardware. Many of these
weapons, especially a group from Switzerland, bear stamped signs, most often
symbols but in one case the Celtic name KORISIOS written in Greek letters (Wyss
I956). These signs may identify the smiths who made the swords, and suggest a high
degree of specialization in this craft. The scabbards were frequently decorated
(De Navarro I972).
In the final three centuries Be in the British Isles, some weapons were objects
of particularly rich adornment. Parade shields, scabbards, helmets, spearheads and
harness fittings were often decorated extravagantly, with fine engraved line ornament
and enamel inlay (Raftery I99I). These objects were intended to display status. They
are often found in wet places, for example the Wandsworth shield bosses from the
Thames River and the Lisnacrogher scabbard-plates from a bog in Northern Ireland.
The fine craftsmanship suggests a highly organized community of metalworkers that
produced special display items for an elite group (Raftery I99I: 557, 562). A large
assemblage of weaponry, including many ornate pieces, was found in a bog at Llyn
Cerrig Bach in Anglesey, Wales (Fox I946).