On Tue, 7 Dec 1999, Michael Weinert wrote:

> Given the seemingly low social status of the smith during the Roman era
> the likelyhood of a smith being a skilled slave and possibly originating
> anywhere in the empire.  

I have been researching this in my own study area and found it a very
interesting though complicated issue to address. In a colonial and
post-colonial context we have to notice creolisation processes and this
certainly applies to the Roman provincial sphere, too. It is rather
unlikely to expect slaves in a rural context but with a villa things may
be different. Determination of the social status of smiths during the
Roman period is problematic as this mirrors the entire social framework of
a region. In a thoroughly Roman (and I deliberately abstain from using
Romanised!) social context a smith's status may have been indeed low and
here I recommend you

John W. Humphrey, John P. Oleson, and
Andrew N. Sherwood.                                         
Greek and Roman technology: a sourcebook. Annotated translations of Greek
and Latin texts and documents 
London : Routledge, 1998.  

The book may have its weaknesses in detail but they provide you with an
excellent overview of the sociology of ancient mining and metallurgy.

In a more indigenous environment, however, Celtic or Germanic influences
may have prevailed, and the social status of a smith may have been indeed
quite high. A good source here are burials and for comparative purposes I
quote

Joachim Henning, Schmiedegraeber noerdlich der Alpen, Saalburg Jahrbuch 6,
1991, 65-82.

> There is also the apparent Punic influence in the Iberian peninsula,
> since they introduced iron to the area and have been seen recently to
> have lasted quite beyond the Roman state control and to have involved
> agriculture on Ibiza and some other areas in the south. 

In Spain in particular Punic influence should not be underestimated and I
know there are other list members who can better comment on this than I. 

> It's a combination villa urbana/villa rustica type in the range of
> approximately 75k square meters of known occupation from the late
> first/early 2nd c. BC.  into the Visigothic era.  Several buildings are
> present.  The villa rustica was of diverse function with a broad
> representation of work areas, storage areas and courtyards.  

Villa suburbana? The date range sounds promising for analysing
technological changes over a longer period of time, provided the material
is suitable. Visigoths would be interesting to see any technological
breaks or migrating traditions. Is there any evidence for industrial
production other than metal? 

> The site 
> offers no overall stratigraphy.  A legacy of earlier excavations - there 
> are purportedly many boxes of materials from the entire spectrum of 
> occupation which are simply 

That's a problem but you can still make it happen. 

> My experience with slag is limited to recording the weights of all slag in 
> a given unit's respective levels 

good for a start but

> and discarding them.  

DON'T!

> By comparison with the forge areas on early 19th c. U.S. farm sites I've 
> seen the area 
> identified to me as a forge seems rather ephemeral. 

You shouldn't compare standards of preservation that have centuries in
between. Your potential forge would require more detailed investigations
such as the search for hammer-scale or very peculiar types of slag.

> Slag is found in 
> various amounts throughout the site.  It has only been recorded in a 
> subjective manner regarding it's presence. 

Not all that bad. I had sites quarried away, lousy archives or stuff
thrown away due to zero awareness. Make a sacrifice to Hephaistos or
Vulcan, whatever your preference, and go ahead! 

Irene

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Irene E Schrufer-Kolb                                                    
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