Roman Iron Production in Britain: Technological and Socio-economic Landscape Development Along the Jurassic Ridge

This research investigates the social technology of Roman iron production in the East Midlands, England. The research area covers the counties of Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland, as well as parts of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The aim is provide a detailed assessment of archaeometallurgical sites in the area, against a socio-economic background of settlement patterns and landscape development. An interdisciplinary archaeological and scientific approach is taken to appreciate the role of the East Midlands as a third region of significant iron production in Roman Britain. The term 'iron production' is used as an umbrella term for all stages necessary to make an iron implement ready for use, andis not confined to iron smelting alone. Hence, iron production covers the entire process from the mining of iron ore, ore processing, smelting, refining and the smithing processes involved up to the manufacture of an implement.