The chemical composition of iron construction elements is not usually a topic of interest in Medieval archaeology. This article focuses attention on the chemical composition of iron elements such as nails. For compositional analysis, the XRF method was used. A comparison was made between XRF results and physical measurements. The aim of this article was to identify the amount of iron in metal elements that were possibly used in constructing castles, and to find a connection between the chemical composition of objects and their physical measurements.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 8 (2007): Weapons, Weaponry and Man (In memoriam Vytautas Kazakevičius), pp. 368–376
Abstract
The subject of this paper is the inlay technique, namely the hammering of fine silver to an iron object specially grooved for the purpose, and early medieval Semigallian and Couronian military equipment decorated in this technique. This includes sword hilts, strap dividers and mounts made by Baltic smiths, and a unique armour plate. The study of the inlay technique permits the former silver decoration on objects to be reconstructed. The ornate Couronian sword hilts provide grounds for hypothesising that there was a specialist weaponry workshop at Talsi hill-fort.