What is recorded here

Fire raged in Johnstown furnaces during the third century, shaping raw iron into useful things long before the enclosure ditches cut the earth. Smiths returned centuries later, laying hearths across old ditch fills and leaving slag buried beneath the soil. The site bridged ages, proving that human ingenuity keeps reclaiming forgotten ground for new purposes.

Archaeological excavation (02E0462) of the enclosure (ME048-031001-) also recorded seven areas associated with iron production, including three outside the enclosure. The largest area with the earliest date was c. 12m SE of the enclosure and produced a number of furnaces and hearths, one of which has a radiocarbon date of Cal. AD 240-540. Three principal deposits were over the sealing of the Phase 1 and 2 ditches of the enclosure and produced dates of Cal. AD 670-960, Cal AD 680-980, and Cal. AD 650-890. A cobbled work-surface sealed one of the iron-working deposits. The ditches themselves produced iron slag, and a ring-pin with scrolling terminals dated to the seventh to tenth centuries came from the Phase 2 ditch. The smithing activity within the enclosure could have pre-dated or post-dated its use as a burial ground. The last iron-working was a smithing hearth over the fill of the Phase 3 ditch with a date of Cal. AD 1420-1650. (Clarke and Carlin 2008, 73-5; Clarke 2008) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 14 August 2019

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