Research Projects

  • (A-5-1) Iron smelting in the Teltow

    The Teltow, a ground moraine south of Berlin, is one of the pioneering regions in early iron smelting in central Europe. Evidence shows that iron has been produced and processed in this region since the fourth century BC (LT B1). Furthermore, there are initial indications that iron smelting technology was introduced as early as the fifth century BC (Ha D/LT A).

  • (A-5-2) Iron mining in the Przeworsk Culture

    The spread of technical innovations such as iron smelting required the availability of natural resources, first of all iron ores, and manual skills along with social acceptability and necessity. The project investigated the beginnings of iron smelting in the area of the Przeworsk culture (Poland) based on the hypothesis that the earliest stages of local and regional iron production coincide with the emergence of the Przeworsk culture within the 2nd century BC.

  • (A-5-3) The beginnings of iron

    This project focused on the cultural, economic and social role of iron in the ancient Near East during the Late Bronze Age, with particular attention paid to the evidence from the Hittite Anatolia.

  • (A-5-4) Iron mining and smelting in the (northern) Tyrrhenian Sea (Sardinia, Elba, Populonia)

    The project focused on a topo-chronological reassessment of iron smelting on Elba in Antiquity and the environmental impacts of ancient metallurgy on the island.

  • (A-5-5) Iron smelting in the Baltic region

    This project conducted fundamental research into deposits and smelting sites in the southwestern Baltic region. In the course of the project, the group analyzed, recorded and mapped sites that may have met the prerequisites for independent iron smelting.

  • (A-5-6) Early Iron in Eastern Europe

    The spread of iron metallurgy into Europe has been a long lasting debate since the beginnings of iron production are hardly comprehensible. Apparently, the southern part of Eastern Europe played a major role in the introduction of this complex pyrotechnology doubtless due to its integration into the Circumpontic network and the proximity to the Near East. The research project aimed to highlight the development of the earliest use of iron in Eastern Europe.

  • (A-5-7) Iron technology in the museum

    The revision and new conception of the prehistoric exhibition at the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte in Berlin affected, among other things, the museum’s Pre-Roman Iron Age division, featuring artifacts from ancient Europe and Eurasia. In setting up the new exhibition at “Neues Museum”, the focus was not only on portraying Iron Age cultural groups, but also and especially on the subject of iron and iron smelting as a new raw material and a new technology.

Dissertations

Third-party Funded Project