The Roman Iron Industry in Britain

Description

The invasion of AD 43 began the Romans’ settlement of Britain. The Romans brought with them a level of expertise that raised iron production in Britain from small localised sites to an enormous industry. Rome thrived on war and iron was vital to the Roman military establishment as well as to the civil population. In this pioneering work, David Sim combines current ideas of iron-making in Roman times with experimental archaeology. The Roman Iron Industry in Britain stretches far beyond dry theory and metallurgy alone; it covers all the stages of this essential process, from prospecting to distribution, and describes the whole cycle of iron production. Photographs and line drawings illustrate the text well enough to allow keen readers to reproduce the artefacts for themselves. Fascinating to the general reader and all those with an interest in Roman history, this book is invaluable to students of archaeology and professional archaeologists alike. Dr David Sim is an archaeologist who has combined studies of the technology of the Roman Empire with his skills as a blacksmith. Title Page List of illustrations and tables Acknowledgements Foreword Prologue 1 An overview of the Roman iron industry 2 Charcoal 3 Smelting 4 The blacksmith 5 Bloomsmithing and barsmithing 6 Artefact production 7 The use of steel 8 Mechanical processing Epilogue Glossary Appendix: Museums containing Roman metalwork in the United Kingdom Bibliography Plate Section Copyright