Early medieval iron bloomery centre at Zamárdi (Hungary)

Abstract

Archaeological excavations at Zamárdi (Hungary) revealed one of the largest early medieval iron smelting centres in Central Europe with about a hundred ore-roasting pits, twenty bloomery furnaces, reheating furnaces and a forge. In addition, a related Avar settlement dating from the 7th to 9th centuries was also unearthed, with remains of carriage roads, about twenty houses with stone furnaces and a number of open-air furnaces. The bloomery remains fit into the series of furnaces of the 7th and 8th centuries foundpreviously on other sites in former Pannonia. As a part of a complex research project, more than a hundred slag samples from Zamárdi were examined by XRF, ICP, XRD and SEM-EDS. Different slag types and their metallurgical roles were identified. We concluded that the nature of archaeometallurgical sites can be confidently determined by the typological examination of several kinds of slag.