CPSA on Academia 2017 - the first two years

Book of Abstracts from the conference 'Iron in Archaeology: Bloomery Smelters and Blacksmiths in Europe and Beyond', which took place in Prague from May 30 to June 1, 2017.

Pleiner, R. (2006). Iron in Archaeology. Early European Blacksmiths. Praha: Archeologický ústav AVČR, 2006

The confirmed structure for the 19th Iron Age Student Research Symposium, hosted this year at the University of Leicester in collaboration with the universities of Birmingham and Nottingham. 19th-21st May, with career development workshop on the 22nd May. Email: [email protected] Register at: http://shop.le.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&deptid=7&catid=711&prodid=4592

The annual panel UK-Gespräche – “Get Together” will in this year focus on the metallurgy of the Middle and Late Bronze Age in the area of the Urnfield Culture and contemporary cultural phenomena in Europe. Starting from the ongoing project “Bronze Age metallurgy in western and central Balkans“ of the host institute OREA in cooperation with the Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) of the University Vienna, the aim of the workshop is to pool experts working on different aspects of copper mining and copper metallurgy, including ore processing, casting, distribution of raw metals and ingots as well as use and function of the metal objects. A special interest lies on the social and environmental impact of metallurgical activities. Furthermore the establishment of relations between Bronze Age communities based on the exchange of raw material and metal products is in the focus. The program of the workshop will include a wide range of regional studies as well as region-spanning contributions dealing with specific topics. The final objective is to gain a better understanding of the technological and social processes that led to the interweaving of the metallurgical know-how across the different Urnfield Culture societies in Europe. The event is free, but space is limited. For more information and to register, please contact [email protected].

2017

EAA hosted a stand representing the Marie Curie Alumni Association by Angela Bellia, Chair of the Events and Network Working Group of the Marie Curie Alumni Association

This paper explores the use of experimental archaeology within education and its role in exploring archaeological process. Through a case study where students replicate Egyptian faience manufacture in the laboratory, the concepts of operational sequences, technological choice and variability are discussed. The value to students through increased motivation, self-directed and inquiry based learning are explored, and how this informs their future career in teaching or in research. *

Monographies Instrumentum 50, 2014

The last decade has seen a plethora of archaeometallurgical conferences, some as periodical meetings with a clear geographical focus such as BUMA (Beginnings of the Use of Metals and Alloys) which specialises on Asian and circum-Pacific metallurgy, Anatolian Metals, or Archaeometallurgy in Europe, others as ad hoc events such as Metallurgy - A Touchstone for Cross-Cultural Interaction (2005, in honour of Paul Craddock at the British Museum), or as subsections of the biannual International Symposium on Archaeometry. Was there, then, room and need for yet another archaeometallurgical conference? In our view, yes. A close assessment of the subject coverage of most major archaeometrical or archaeometallurgical conferences revealed a strong bias towards copper and its alloys, and the noble metals. Iron, in contrast, was much less covered, despite the undoubted and overwhelming economic importance of this metal compared to base metals. The 2005 conference in London had just 15% of its papers devoted to iron, and even the 2006 BUMA conference in Beijing had only 30% iron papers, despite the particular significance of this metal in Chinese early metallurgy. This pattern is also repeated in the published literature, suggesting a major re-set of the record was overdue. Against this backdrop, Brigitte Cech developed the concept for the Hüttenberg Conference Early Iron in Europe-Prehistoric and Roman Iron Production, focussing on European early iron production, a field of study where tremendous progress was being made but which did not enjoy the visibility it deserved. Hüttenberg, a small village in the mountains of southern Austria seemed the ideal place for this conference. It was the centre of the production of the famous ferrum Noricum, the Noric steel mentioned in Greek and Roman literature. Archaeological excavations at the site Semlach/Eisner revealed the remains of large-scale Roman iron production over a period of at least four centuries. Later iron ore mining and smelting in the region continued well into the 20 th century AD, making this a region of international importance for the technical heritage of iron. Interdisciplinary research into the Roman period started in 2003 and continued until 2010. For these reasons Hüttenberg seemed the perfect setting for a conference on early iron production in Europe. In September 2008, after careful planning and preparation, 102 delegates from fifteen different countries presented 52 oral papers and 34 posters, covering different aspects of iron production from the beginnings of iron technology to the Middle Ages. We then invited the participants to submit their manuscripts for publication in an edited volume, the one you hold in your hands right now. However, in order to keep our project manageable and thematically coherent, we decided to focus the book of proceedings on European iron production of the Late La Tène and the Roman period only, of course without prejudice against the importance of iron production elsewhere and at other times. Indeed, a parallel initiative by Jane Humphris and Xander Veldhuijzen resulted in a sister conference, the World of Iron which took place in London in February 2009 (Humphris and Rehren 2013), specifically excluding European iron metallurgy.

2008