The Metalworker as Social Agent: Alongue duréeApproach from Northwestern Iberia Atlantic Façade (Ninth–First Centuriesbce)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of the metalworker in the northwest Iberian Iron Age. By adopting a holistic and diachronic perspective, a broad review of the influence of metalworking and its agents on the social structuring of the communities of the Atlantic seaboard is presented. With the aim of exploring the implications of metallurgy and the blacksmith's activity, a new perspective of metalworking is suggested. Thus, an exploration of perspectives beyond the technical aspects will be addressed, considering the ‘technological dimension’ as part of all the elements that define this activity. The objective of the work is to present a narrative that allows analysis of the role of the metalworker throughout different historical periods, focusing on the social, technical and symbolic dynamics that have shaped its development.

Social Change and Metalworking in the Early Iron Age: An Approach From North‐west Iberia

“…Structure XXIII (domestic activity in green, metalworking in red, rest areas in yellow) (Nión‐Álvarez 2022, 496).…”

“…However, there is not much evidence to support this hypothesis: no imported materials have been recovered from the site (Nión‐Álvarez 2021, 185), the production of metal objects is particularly limited in quantitative terms (Nión‐Álvarez 2018, 349), and the characteristics of internal occupation do not hint at any kind of trade‐oriented ‘industrial’ production. As evidenced by the significant amounts of kitchen and table pottery that have been recovered (Nión‐Álvarez 2022, 494–5), everything seems to indicate that production areas, as in the case of Structures I–III, were a part of everyday life in spaces without internal divisions, used both for bronze production and as kitchen, storage, and even rest areas (Fig. 7).…”

“…Returning to the case study, and focusing on Punta de Muros, the profound social change in the settlement in its last years of occupation is also indicated in a notable change in the manner of metallurgical production. Metalworking moved from multifunctional areas to specialized zones and became especially linked to some of the most complex households (Nión‐Álvarez 2022, 496–7). The creation of specialized metalworking areas may have been related to a desire to keep it detached from the rest of the crafts and domestic work, away from outsiders.…”