Far from barbaric: Re-assessing the sophistication of merovingian metalworking

Abstract

The demise of the Roman Empire during the mid-fi fth century A.D. resulted in the rise of one of Europe's longest ruling families of the Middle Ages: the Merovingians. The Merovingian dynasty lasted from the mid-fi fth to the mid-eighth centuries A.D. and at its height controlled states that stretched across France, Belgium, Germany west of the Rhineland, and most of Switzerland. Archaeometallurgists used to believe that the state of metalworking technology declined after the demise of the Roman Empire. To assess the level of sophistication of metalworking during this period, a set of 36 iron tools and weapons were metallurgically sampled and examined. For comparison, 11 Iron Age, three Roman, and four medieval iron artifacts from the same region were also sampled. For more information, contact Robert M. Ehrenreich, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.; e-mail rehrenreich@ushmm.org.

Cold neutron diffraction contrast tomography of polycrystalline material

“…Conversely, these properties can also yield information on ancient metal working methods long forgotten. 5 Optical and electron micrography are standard tools in metallography that provide extensive information on the samples' microstructure. These are however surface methods, requiring extensive polishing and etching, and 3D information is only available through tedious serial sectioningthough nowadays largely automatized.…”

“…Neutrons fly in from the left (1), beam size limited by an aperture (2), go through the mirror (3) and hit the sample (4). The transmission signal is subsequently captured on scintillator of the micro set-up(6) and the grain diffraction projections on the customized midibox scintillator(5). The light is then guided via the mirrors to the CCD camera on top(7).…”

A Box Containing Carpenter's Accessories from The Akko 1 Shipwreck, Israel: Archaeometallurgical Analysis of Surviving Ironwork

“…The microstructure of the head of D2 (Fig. 4 (e)) revealed that its external area consisted of thin layers containing ferrite and pearlite, varying between 0.5-0.7 wt% carbon, as is typical for carburized iron (Ehrenreich et al 2005).…”

X-ray computed tomography for non-destructive analysis of early Medieval swords

“…The metallographic analyses offer information about alloy components such as carbon or phosphorus, and it is possible to answer questions about details of manufacturing technique like blade quenching or tempering (Tylecote & Gilmour, 1986;Scott, 1991Scott, , 2014. Microhardness tests of phase hardness were used for the determination of carbon content and for the assessment of hardening methods employed on early Medieval swords (Emmerling, 1972;Tylecote & Gilmour, 1986;Ehrenreich et al, 2005). Williams (2009) gives an overview of the various phase hardnesses.…”