The Roman Iron Industry in Britain

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History Press, Nov 30, 2011 - History - 160 pages
The invasion of AD 43 began the Romans' settlement of Britain. The Romans brought with them a level of expertise that raised iron production in Britain from small localised sites to an enormous industry. Rome thrived on war and iron was vital to the Roman military establishment as well as to the civil population. In this pioneering work, David Sim combines current ideas of iron-making in Roman times with experimental archaeology. The Roman Iron Industry in Britain stretches far beyond dry theory and metallurgy alone; it covers all the stages of this essential process, from prospecting to distribution, and describes the whole cycle of iron production. Photographs and line drawings illustrate the text well enough to allow keen readers to reproduce the artefacts for themselves. Fascinating to the general reader and all those with an interest in Roman history, this book is invaluable to students of archaeology and professional archaeologists alike. Dr David Sim is an archaeologist who has combined studies of the technology of the Roman Empire with his skills as a blacksmith.

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About the author (2011)

Dr David Sim taught ancient technology to the departments of Engineering and Archaeology at the University of Reading where he holds a visiting research fellowship. He is widely published on the subject of Roman metallurgy and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He has carried out research in Germany and Pompeii as well as at several sites in the UK. He is also a working blacksmith!

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