Archaeological evidence of independent iron production from the 9th-century rural settlement of Bořitov (Blansko District, Czechia)

Abstract

The study attempts to show the potential of iron slags to answer questions about the organization of iron production in 9th-century Moravia. As a case study, it evaluates a small archaeological assemblage from the contemporary rural settlement of Bořitov, where basic contextual and macroscopic evaluation in combination with various archaeometric analyses (pXRF, ED-XRF, XRD, SEM/EDS) of iron slags made it possible to recognize the smelting of iron ore, as well as its further processing in a reheating hearth and smithy. Taking into account some other finds connected with iron production as well as the specific geographic position of Bořitov, these results also indicate that the community in Bořitov could have been beyond the reach of regional elites and might thus have acted as independent producers with the main purpose to saturate their own demand and/or exchange the surplus.