VSF 2010 Report - Nabo

ID. [6103]
Mag.
Max. Dimensions (cm)
Min. Dimensions (cm)
L W D L W D
Count
Weight (g)
Undiagnostic 8.5 5.5 4 0.5 0.5 0.5 63 449.5
Flowed 3 3 2.5 2 1 0.5 6 35.6
Tap
Smelting
SHB
Hammerscale
Fuel ash
Technical vitrif.
Ferr. conc.
Charcoal
Other 2 1.5 1 1 1 0.5 3 1.5
Total 72 486.6
Context [6126]
Pit [6126], located in the central area of Structure 3, is deemed to be associated with stone
and ash deposits, and has been interpreted as a hearth with an unusual tongue shape (Milek
2007: 37). The presence of slag in this context, as well as the slag associated with the feature
from other contexts, would suggest that the hearth was related to metallurgical activity. It
would be premature to identify this hearth as a smithing hearth, as the subterranean feature, in
combination with the apparent stone lining, would not be out of the ordinary for the base of a
furnace construction. Due to the formation processes that lead to the slag depositions
recovered, the lack of smelting slag does not imply that the feature is solely related to
smithing. Cleaning a hearth or furnace of slag would not necessarily be an uncommon
activity, in order to re-use the constructions.
The majority of the slag from this context was recovered from heavy residue, which
contained a number of hammerscale spheroids and fragments of flowed slag. The lack of
diagnostic residues in this context, in the form of smithing or smelting slags, make it difficult
to understand which particular processes were taking place. The slag recovered from this
context corresponds to finds 52, 59 and 62.
ID. [6126]
Mag.
Max. Dimensions (cm)
Min. Dimensions (cm)
L W D L W D
Count
Weight (g)
Undiagnostic 5 4.5 3 1.5 1 1 - 1223.2
Flowed 4 4 3