Archaeologists Find Oldest Forges in Scandinavia

The oldest and most complex system of iron forgeries was recently discovered in Scandinavia. The find was made by a group of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NUST) Museum of Natural History and Archeology, who were led by archaeologist Ruth Iren Oien. When she discovered the small beads at a site, she knew that she had stumbled upon something big. Further digs led to the discovery of the forges, AlphaGalileo reports.

The beads were first discovered at the end of 2008, in November, but, with the frost season incoming, the team had no other alternative but to suspend their work, and return when the weather got better, in July 2009. The group resumed work precisely where they left off, and began to uncover some remarkable artifacts. The iron beads that peaked the group's interest were very small, just one to 1.5 millimeters in diameter, Oien reveals. She believed at the time that they might be remnants from a nearby smithy, but was surprised to uncover a large number of forges in the nearby fields.

“We found three different types of forges. Some were small and circular, some were indoors, and a third type was in the shape of a figure eight. Findings suggest the smiths used one half of the figure-eight shaped forges for the rough work before refining the iron in the other forges,” Oien says. In addition to the beads, more than 200 related artifacts were discovered at the location, including post holes, forges, fireplaces and wall ditches.

“Even though we have only uncovered half of the area, we have already found seven forges. This cluster suggest[s] some kind of early industrial activity, in the sense that clearly they had large scale production. These are rare and exciting results, and unique in a Scandinavian context,” the site's project manager, Preben Ronne, adds. The location lies about 1.5 hours South of Trondheim, and the research group believes that it lying there is no coincidence.

“The iron was produced in the smaller side valleys, and transported to Forsetmoen for refining. From there iron artifacts have been transported to the larger farms further out. Maybe they’ve been sold even further,” Ronne believes. The forges, he adds, all date from between 0 and 500 AD, with most of the related artifacts dating back to between 400 and 500 AD.