Producing and working with iron: The workshops of the eastern Parisian Basin from the 5th century BC to the 10th century AD

Combining archaeological studies and archaeometric analyses, this synthesis presents the importance of the iron economy in the eastern part of the Paris Basin from the First Iron Age to the early Middle Ages. The first contributions of this research project concern technological changes in the production system of iron objects. The attention paid to the share of recycling in production somewhat modifies the previous discourse in attempts to quantify the types of forged objects (tools, weapons, ornaments, etc). Additionally, the link between the status of the excavated sites (agricultural holding, rural hamlet, fortified site, large settlements) and the type of forging activity that was carried out there has made it possible to distinguish political control in the production of certain objects. Finally, and readdressing certain preconceived ideas, the authors have endeavoured to discern, from a historical perspective, the distribution channels of these iron objects.