Non-ferrous metalworking in Iron Age Scotland, c.700BC to AD800

Abstract

This thesis discusses the evidence for non-ferrous metalworking, particularly casting, during the Scottish Iron Age (arra 700BC to AD 800). The wider goal is to offer a fuller understanding of the role that the production of bronze, silver and gold objects played in Iron Age society. Following an outline of the theoretical and methodological framework adopted throughout the study the evidence for the different stages involved in non-ferrous metalworking is discussed. Detailed catalogues, descriptions and scientific analysis of the material and its context are given, together with discussion of typology, technology, provenance and chronology. The corpus is then reviewed within three case studies, chronologically divided into the Early, Middle, and Late Iron Age. The aim of each study is to analyse the role and meaning of non-ferrous working, the smiths and the objects in specific regions at different periods. In the process, metalworking is contextualised within wider themes and frameworks for Iron Age society. 1bis study suggests that non-ferrous metalworking was a fundamental concern to important individuals, a prized asset not open to all. The practice played a crucial role in the creation and maintenance of different social and political trajectories at various times and places throughout Iron Age Scotland.