Vice-versa: the iron trade in the western Roman Empire between Gaul and the Mediterranean

Gaspard Pagès (1, 2, 3) , Philippe Dillmann (4) , Enrique Vega (4) , Marion Berranger (5, 6) , Sylvain Bauvais (4) , Luc Long (7) , Philippe Fluzin (8, 9)

1 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
2 GAMA - Archéologie de la Gaule : structures économiques et sociales
3 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
4 LAPA - UMR 3685 - Laboratoire Archéomatériaux et Prévision de l'Altération
5 IRAMAT-LMC - IRAMAT - Laboratoire Métallurgies et Cultures
6 IRAMAT - Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux
7 DRASSM - Département des Recherches Archéologiques Subaquatiques et Sous-Marines [Marseille]
8 IRAMAT-LAPA - IRAMAT - Laboratoire Archéomatériaux et Prévision de l'Altération
9 NIMBE UMR 3685 - Nanosciences et Innovation pour les Matériaux, la Biomédecine et l'Energie (ex SIS2M)

Starting from the second century BC, with the fast expansion of the Roman Empire, iron production and consumption developed exponentially in north-western Europe. This rapid growth naturally led to an increase in trade, that still remains to be studied encompassing a broad scope, so as to not neglect long-distance exchanges. This is today possible by taking advantage of the progress made in the past 40 years in archaeology and archaeometallurgy. Cargoes of iron bars recovered from a group of 23 wrecks located off the coast of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhone, France), opposite an old branch of the Rhone River, constitute a rich opportunity to examine this trade, by comparing the slag inclusions trapped in iron bars to primary slag from the six main ironmaking areas in Gaul. Based on a trace element analysis of these inclusions and this slag, we suggest that ships travelled down the Rhone carrying iron produced in Wallonia (Belgium), while others sailed up the Rhone transporting iron produced in Montagne Noire (Aude, France).

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Gaspard Pagès, Philippe Dillmann, Enrique Vega, Marion Berranger, Sylvain Bauvais, et al.. Vice-versa: the iron trade in the western Roman Empire between Gaul and the Mediterranean. PLoS ONE, 2022, 17 (5), pp.e0268209. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0268209⟩. ⟨halshs-03495776⟩