metal

Most settlements were probably mostly autarctic, taking care of their own food, clothing, pottery, tools et cetera. There are however clues for the exchange of goods and resources which were not present in the local environment...

Yes, the Vikings had both iron and steel. They had to make it themselves, through a process called “blestring” or iron smelting. This was a major undertaking, so iron was expensive. Here at Lofotr we have documented this process on a DVD which is sold in our museum store.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Both metals do not originate in the Netherlands or its surroundings. natural sources of copper can be found in Austria, Spain, Southern France, Northern Italy, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and Bulgaria...

It is not for nothing called "Iron Age". The art of making iron originates - like many developments - from the Near East. In the Southern Netherlands, for tools and weapons, often wood and stone were used, occasionally bronze...

Experimental archaeology found that the most probable use of these structures was as heating ovens for clay-moulds being used for the smelting of bronze in the so called “lost form”...

The alloy of tin and copper for the production of bronze had two advantages: on the one hand the use of tin reduced the smelting point as tin smelts already at 231.9° C, on the other hand the addition of tin to copper results in...