“Something is happening in Arctic Europe at the same time as it is happening in the Roman Empire,” says Kristina Söderholm, professor of history of technology at Luleå University of Technology and leader of the project, to TT.
Old metal remains have long lain untouched in archaeological collections after the investigations that were carried out before hydropower expansions in the north between 1940 and 1980. Only now have the objects been examined, including with the carbon 14 method – and it is clear that it is metal made from iron ore from lakes and marshes in the northern region, writes Luleå University of Technology in a press release.
Advanced forging
Earlier, the researchers made discoveries of 2,000-year-old iron-making furnaces at two locations in present-day Norrbotten. At the same time, an ax and knives made of steel with several layers of iron were also found – the oldest examples of so-called temperature-treated steel objects that have been found in Europe, the university states.
“We have made archaeometallurgical analyzes that show that people had a very advanced knowledge when it comes to forging steel objects of various qualities,” Carina Bennerhag, an archaeologist with a doctorate in the history of technology, tells TT.
Not just farmers
Now that the researchers have mapped the iron and steel production, they have discovered occurrences in 40 different places in northern Finland, Sweden and Norway. The find sites include Arvidsjaur, Sangis and Arjeplog – and there will be more find sites, according to Kristina Söderholm.
“We have only scratched the surface,” she says and continues:
— What we have learned in school and which is in every single textbook around the world is that it was farming communities that first got the need and ability to make iron. But here we show that this is not true – even hunting and trapping groups needed iron.
The first results of the study were already published in 2021 in Antiquity.