Handful of Iron Beads Offer Clues to Solve Mystery of Ancient Iron Forges

[Adsos Letter]

Source: ScienceDaily

When archaeologist Ruth Iren Øien noticed a cluster of tiny iron beads in the ground, she knew she was onto something. She did not know, however, that her team had stumbled upon Scandinavia's oldest and most complex group of iron forges.

And not only that, it would be months before Øien, with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, would discover the actual significance of her find.

The iron beads were first found in November 2008, right at the very end of a highly weather-dependent field season in Norway. With frost about to set in, further investigation had to wait until the summer of 2009. But in July, Øien's team returned to the site.

The iron beads that had piqued Øien's interest were only 1 to1.5 millimetres in diameter. But they were sufficient to make her realize they might be residue from a smithy. It turned out she was right, but the number of forges on the small field surprised everyone.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091228124733.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

[bertman]

1. Interesting. Thanks for the post, Adsos Letter. Rec.

[safeinOhio]

2. How'd they not rust away?

Did they know something we don't?

[SoCalDem]

3. cold soil?

:shrug:

[safeinOhio]

4. Norway has summers and rain?

[struggle4progress]

5. Ordinary red rust flakes off but irons can develop other protective stable coatings