Dear all,
I guess we may be talking of different things, but I thought I might use
this occasion to query about some slightly similar pieces for which I don't
find any satisfying explanation. We repeatedly found some clay rods a few
centimetres long in slag assemblages of gallo-roman smithies in Switzerland
(I know of at least 6 individuals from three sites in Switzerland). The
surfaces are blackish and slagged on a very shallow surface. They have an
oval or rectangular section of perhaps three or four centimeters; one
extremity generally shows a slight bulge. The pieces are altered on all
surfaces of this extremity, which was obviously exposed to a certain heat,
although the alteration is restricted to the surface. One of these pieces
was analysed some time ago by Marianne Senn; the surface was strongly
enriched in iron, and the clay seemed to be similar to that used for crucibles.
Similar pieces have been found in quite large numbers in the Viking site of
Haithabu, and two or three others are known from two French La Tène sites. I
guess there might be many others, but they are quite difficult to identify
in large slag assemblages; besides of the particular morphology, the
material looks just like the usual sandy-clayey slags; like these, they are
probably quite friable.
The pieces I know of are always clearly associated to smithies in sites
devoid of smelting activities. In german, they have been called "Propfen" or
"Zapfen". Obviously, they were used to block some rectangular or ovoid
opening (an air inlet?) on one side of the hearth exposed to the fire; but
why would there be a need to block an air inlet in a smithing hearth (and
what is more, from the inside)? Although they seem to be very rare, I find
it astonishing to find such pieces all over the time from Iron Age to
medieval times. I just can't figure out to what particular practice they
could be associated; I wonder if somebody could come up with some
explanation for these objects…
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