Polykmetos Sideros  : À propos du fer en Grèce Antique

Abstract

La recherche sur la Grèce ancienne s’est peu préoccupée de l’artisanat du fer et de ses procédés de production. Même si plusieurs études pionnières ont été réalisées, aussi bien sur les textes que sur des données archéologiques limitées, tout reste pratiquement à faire. Si les objets en fer apparaissent dans l’Égée dès le II e millénaire, les débuts de la métallurgie du fer posent de nombreuses questions, tant pour leur date que pour les conditions matérielles et culturelles de son évolution. De nombreuses régions de Grèce sont riches en matières premières mais les vestiges archéométallurgiques montrent pour l’instant deux grandes zones pionnières : d’une part le nord de l’Égée, surtout Thasos, et, d’autre part, le Péloponnèse (Laconie, Argolide etc.). Le rôle majeur du fer laconien semble confirmé par l’archéométallurgie, tandis que la question des échanges de matières premières reste cruciale. Nous espérons qu’un premier tableau, à partir des éléments connus par les travaux en cours, pourra stimuler le développement de nouvelles recherches.

Tradition and Innovation in Aegean Iron Technologies: A View From Early Iron Age Ionia

“…The Middle Bronze Age (MBA; 2100–1700 bc ) to LBA iron finds comprise rings, tools and knives with decorative, ceremonial and prestigious functions. Prestigious objects increased in number during the Late Helladic (LH) IIIC (1200–1050 bc ) period (databases of iron objects: Waldbaum 1978; 1999, 46, Appendix A; Sherratt 1994, Appendix I; Sanidas et al 2016, 282–3; Pare 2017, 22–3; see also Maran 2006). During the EIA, iron became the preferred material in the eastern Mediterranean, as can be observed from the emergence of fully fledged iron production.…”

“…In terms of the functional merit of iron over bronze, Muhly argued most prominently that technical factors ascertained the pioneering role of Cyprus in the transition to its utilitarian use. Relying on the metallurgical studies of a few exceptionally well-preserved artefacts from Amathus, Idalion and Lapithos, he emphasised the process of hardening as the key factor behind the success of Cypriot iron smithing as early as the beginning of the twelfth century bc (Muhly et al 1985, 68; Muhly 2006, 21–3; Muhly and Kassianidou 2012, 134; see also Maddin 1982, 303; 2011, 204–7; Pickles and Peltenburg 1998, 84; Sanidas et al 2016, 281). Based on an assumption of a clear association between Cyprus and the early iron objects (iron knives with bronze rivets, knives fully made of iron, and slightly later also iron swords) found in Euboea and Crete dating to the eleventh and tenth centuries bc , Muhly (2006, 28–31) argued that it was not just these novel and also highly demanded products that were traded, but also the corresponding technologies (Muhly and Kassianidou 2012, 125; cf.…”

“…The interplay between bronze and iron technologies might have indeed been essential to the invention of iron smelting beyond Cyprus as well, as research on the beginnings of iron metallurgy in the EIA Levant at Tell Hammeh and very recently also in Kastri on Thasos in the northern Aegean has shown, very likely stimulating the concurrent experimentation in the treatment and application of iron (Levant and Near East: Veldhuijzen 2012; Yahalom-Mack and Eliyahu-Behar 2015; Erb-Satullo and Walton 2017; cf. Liss, Levy and Day 2020; northern Aegean: Sanidas et al 2016, 284–91).…”

“…Although there is an increase in EIA settlement contexts studied today, the bulk of metals, and iron finds in particular, are still known from graves. The frequently cited exceptions represent the settlement finds from Nichoria, Malthi, Kastri and Tiryns (Sanidas et al 2016, 282–3; Blackwell 2020, 532). Yet in the wake of an increasing number of finds and better conservation as well as analytical techniques, Morris's (1989, 514) conclusions that Greece was almost free of metals until around 700 bc and that metal tools were much more common in Cyprus and the Levant no longer hold.…”

“…Namely, we will demonstrate that the recent finds from the EIA settlement strata in the Gulf of Izmir complement the metallographically analysed finds from Lydian Sardis and strengthen the proposition that iron circulated in local settlements – rather than being limited to the funerary milieu (in contrast to the published evidence from the western part of the Aegean) – already in the tenth century bc , if not earlier. Moreover, the blacksmith's workshop excavated in Phokaia might represent the only known production context dated to the eleventh century bc (in addition to the remains of a workshop discovered at Kastri on Thasos; Sanidas et al 2016), even if uncertainties in terms of stratigraphy and chronology persist (Yalçın and Özyiğit 2013). Yet discussions rarely engage with the Ionian evidence and emphasise developments in mainland Greece and other Aegean regions instead (but see Yalçın 1999; Cevizoğlu 2020).…”