Iron in Dark Age England
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 10:13 am
intriguing piece here
"The results presented here substantially alter our perception of northern England in the immediate post-Roman period. Roman practices of metal production, comprising ore selection and use of coal are shown to have continued. Production/working of iron only declined slightly in the early to mid-fifth century before a continuous rise until the mid-sixth. This has fundamental significance for our understanding of metal production, specialisation and societal organisation c. 400-550, arguing against previously suggested total economic collapse.
… From the ninth century, trends in large-scale iron- and lead-production at Aldborough may mark it as a royal centre and subsequent fluctuations track major economic phases and sociopolitical events. The fall across all metal production in the mid-to late sixth century may provide the first economic proxy for the impact of the Justinianic plague and other pathogens on north-eastern England.”
Open access ar https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server ... 22/content
"The results presented here substantially alter our perception of northern England in the immediate post-Roman period. Roman practices of metal production, comprising ore selection and use of coal are shown to have continued. Production/working of iron only declined slightly in the early to mid-fifth century before a continuous rise until the mid-sixth. This has fundamental significance for our understanding of metal production, specialisation and societal organisation c. 400-550, arguing against previously suggested total economic collapse.
… From the ninth century, trends in large-scale iron- and lead-production at Aldborough may mark it as a royal centre and subsequent fluctuations track major economic phases and sociopolitical events. The fall across all metal production in the mid-to late sixth century may provide the first economic proxy for the impact of the Justinianic plague and other pathogens on north-eastern England.”
Open access ar https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server ... 22/content