Iron production and society. The social organisation and iron production in Nord-Trøndelag during the early Iron Age

Abstract

There was a large scale production of iron in the area of Inntrøndelag in Nord-Trøndelag during the early Iron Age, however, the production quantities varied over time. Results from Carbon-14 dating demonstrate a definite peak in the latter part of the early Roman Iron Age and in the first part of the late Roman Iron Age. It is evident that many furnaces and production sites were in use at about the same time and that iron was being produced in large quantities. The smelting of iron reached a level of productivity which was never surpassed until the post-medieval period.

The scale of iron production is compared and analysed in connection with the changes that occur in the burial material from the same area during the early Iron Age. This archaeological material group is analysed in connection with the hillforts which appear in the landscape at this time. The result of this analysis is used to provide evidence for periods of social conflict as a result of the social, economic and political struggle by new power elites to establish and expand their power and territory. This social conflict reaches a climax at about the same· time as the iron production is reaching its peak.