The Potential of Metal Debris: a Late Iron Age Ironworking Site at Oss-Schalkskamp (prov. Noord-Brabant / NL)

Abstract

The study of iron production during the Iron Age in Northwestern Europe has attracted a great deal of research, especially in Germany, Great Britain, and Scandinavia. Yet little is known about the Iron Age production of iron in the Netherlands, because of the scarcity of known production. This article attempts to rectify this through an in-depth study of an assemblage of nearly 200 iron slags found at the Late Iron Age settlement of Oss-Schalkskamp, just south of the river Meuse. The study aims to determine the nature of the iron activity that took place at this site, placing the results in a micro-regional and macro-regional context. The investigation of the find context shows that the slags were discovered in and around a hearth that had been used for iron forging. The results of this site and nearby settlements point to the existence of small-scale domestic iron production in places difficult to find, probably at the fringe of settlements.