Iron in the Nordic Bronze Age and Early Pre-Roman Iron Age – Visibility, Colour Contrasts and Celestial Associations

Figures & data

Table 1. Iron finds from the Late Bronze Age and early Pre-Roman Iron Age in the study area (Närke, Västmanland, Södermanland, Uppland).

Object type	Dating	Find context	Conty, parish, site	No. in appendix
Arm bangle	Period VI	Grave	Up, Lovö, Söderby	21
Arm bangles	LBA Period VI- PRIA I	Grave	Up, Täby, Tibble	22
Awl?	LBA, possibly Period III/IV	Grave	Vä, Lundby, Bäckby	6
Belt hook	LBA Period VI-PRIA I	Grave	Sö, Grödinge, Uppinge	12
Belt hook	PRIA I	Grave	Sö, Trosa-Vagnhärad, Lundby	13
Belt hook?	LBA-PRIA I?	Grave in mound of fire-cracked stones	Up, Broby, Börje	23
Casting chaplets	Period V	Deposition/hoard	Up, Härnevi, Härnevi rectory	20
Chain	Period V	Grave	Vä, Kolbäck, Åsen	5
Decorative fittings	Period VI	Deposition/hoard	Nä, Glanshammar, Hassle	1
Dress pin	LBA-PRIA I	Grave	Nä, Täby, Bengtstorp	2
Dress pins	Period VI	Grave	Vä, Västerås, Önsta-Gryta	3
Dress pin	Period VI	Grave	Sö, Botkyrka, Tullinge	8
Dress pin	PRIA I	Grave	Sö, Trosa-Vagnhärad, Lundby	14
Dress pin	Period VI	Grave	Up, Skuttunge, Dragby	18
Dress pin	LBA-PRIA I	Grave	Up, Tensta, Forsa	25
Dress pin?	LBA	Grave	Sö, Tystberga, Rogsta	15
Fastening pins	Period VI	Deposition	Sö, Sundby, Ransten	10
Knife	Period V	Grave	Vä, Kolbäck, Åsen	4
Knife	Period VI-PRIA I	Grave	Sö, Eskilstuna, Åsby	9
Knife	Period VI	Grave	Up, Skuttunge, Dragby	19
Knife	LBA	Grave	Up, Söderby-Karls, Norrmarjum	24
Knife?	LBA	Grave	Sö, Tystberga, Rogsta	16
Ring	LBA, possibly Period IV–V	Mound of fire-cracked stones?	Sö, Botkyrka, Hallunda	11
Ring	LBA-PRIA I	Grave	Sö, Helgona, Påljungshage	17
Rivet	Period V	Wet deposition	Sö, Svärta, Kråkenäs	7

Fig. 1. Iron artefacts from the LBA and earliest PRIA recovered from the study area in central Sweden. Knives and dress pins from funerary contexts are the dominant find types.

Fig. 2. Dress pins made from iron where the same type also exists in bronze. Grave finds from Önsta-Gryta, Västmanland (SHM 31576). Photo: Sören Hallgren, The Swedish History Museum/SHM (CC BY).

Fig. 3. Two iron bangles (top) found with a bronze pin (middle) and bronze neck ring (bottom) in Täby, Uppland (SHM 29348). Photo: Thomas Eriksson, The Swedish History Museum/SHM (CC BY).

Fig. 4. Fastening pin on the back of ornamental plate/disc shaped jewellery of bronze from Ransten, Södermanland (SHM 13771). Swedish History Museum.

Fig. 5. Reconstruction of one of the ornamental discs from Hassle showing how the combination of bronze and iron might once have appeared. Photo: Anna Sörman.

Table

	County, parish, site	Object type	Composite object (with bronze)	Quantity	Find context	Ref number or report	Dating (contextual and/or typological)	Comments	State (preservation, fragmentation)	Proposed category in this study
1	Nä, Glanshammar, Hassle	Decorative fittings	Yes (disc)	12	Deposition/ hoard	SHM 21513	Period VI	Central mount and mount around the discs’ edges. Found with foreign bronze objects in hoard.	Incomplete, corroded. Preserved on some discs but not all?	Decorative fittings
2	Nä, Täby, Bengtstorp	Dress pin	No	1	Grave	Edlund 2008	LBA-PRIA I	Swan-neck pin with rolled up head, found in a grave deposit in a stone-setting dated to early PRIA (Edlund 2008, p. 47).	Complete except missing tip	Small dress attribute
3	Vä, Västerås, Önsta-Gryta	Dress pins	No	2	Grave	SHM 31576	Period VI	Disc-headed pins found in secondary burial. A bronze pin of the same type has been found in a grave context ^14C-dated to period VI (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 158f).	Fragmentary, both are missing one small piece each.	Small dress attribute
4	Vä, Kolbäck, Åsen	Knife	No	1	Grave	VLM 23048	Period V	Found together with a bronze spiral-headed pin, fragment of bronze pin and fragment of iron chain (below) in the central deposit of a soil filled cairn (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160). The spiral bronze pin in the find probably belongs to period V (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160 w. ref).	Broken in two parts, almost 20 cm long and slightly defect (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160).	Small cutting tool
5	Vä, Kolbäck, Åsen	Chain	No	1	Grave	VLM 23048	Period V	Found together with a bronze spiral-headed pin, fragment of bronze pin and iron knife (above) in the central deposit of a soil filled cairn (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160). The spiral bronze pin in the find probably belongs to period V (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160 w. ref).	2 cm part of iron chain with clear links. Additional fragments in the same context might originally have belonged to the chain (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 160).	Small dress attribute?
6	Vä, Lundby, Bäckby	Awl?	No	1	Grave	VLM 20507 and 21927	LBA, possibly Period III/IV	Cremated bones, a double-stud from period III/IV and a probable awl of iron centrally in a grave cairn. The cairn also contained other secondary LBA graves.	Unclear why the awl is defined as ‘probable’.	Small piercing tool?
7	Sö, Svärta, Kråkenäs	Rivet	Yes (sword)	1	Wet deposition	SLM 18011:186	Period V	Rivet fixing two separate sword parts, possibly belonging to different (but contemporary) weapons. From the Italian area, dated to period V (HaB3) (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 152).		Rivet
8	Sö, Botkyrka, Tullinge	Dress pin	No	1	Grave	SHM 31443	Period VI	Bow-pin without neck, widened rolled up head. Similar pin found in a grave at Dragby dated to period VI (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 152).		Small dress attribute
9	Sö, Eskilstuna, Åsby	Knife	No	1	Grave		Period VI or PRIA I	Found together with a spruce-branch ornamented dress pin (bow pin) of bronze from period VI or PRIA I. Knife type comparable to knives in continental contexts dated to HaD/Period VI/PRIA I (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 154).	Fragmentary. Defect, according to Hjärtner-Holdar (1993a, p. 153).	Small cutting tool
10	Sö, Sundby, Ransten	Fastening pins	Yes (disc/fibula)	2	Deposition	SHM 13771	Period VI	Period VI or PRIA I, probably LBA because of the typical disposition of a pair by a large boulder (Hjärtner-Holdar 1993a, p. 154f).	On one plate the pin is preserved, the other plate has traces of rust.	Pin on the back of brooch
11	Sö, Botkyrka, Hallunda	Ring	No	1	Mound of fire-cracked stones?	SHM 29458	LBA, possibly Period IV-V	C. 4 cm wide. Found in a stone setting (A2), later re- interpreted as a mound of fire-cracked stones (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 150). Burnt animal bones (F13) from the mound have been dated to 1060-890 BC (Röst in prep).		Small support item
12	Sö, Grödinge, Uppinge	Belt hook	No	1	Grave	SHM 26986	LBA Period VI-PRIA I	Double spiral belt hook found with cremated bones in stone-setting (A22). Certain similarities to spiral belt hooks from Bornholm, but probably local product (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 155 w. ref). Hjärthner-Holdar (1993a, p. 176) suggests that the Nordic belt hooks with double spirals were produced during LBA Period VI-PRIA I.	Small part missing.	Small dress attribute
13	Sö, Trosa-Vagnhärad, Lundby	Belt hook	No	1	Grave	Wigren 1985	PRIA I	Probably connected to an inhumation grave in stone setting (A5), same as the dress pin mentioned below (Wigren 1985, p. 68, 85) probably dated to PRIA I (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 157).		Small dress attribute
14	Sö, Trosa-Vagnhärad, Lundby	Dress pin	No	1	Grave	Wigren 1985	PRIA I	Ring-headed pin with probable dating to PRIA I (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 156f). Probably connected to an inhumation grave in stone setting (A5), same as above mentioned belt hook (Wigren 1985, p. 68, 85).		Small dress attribute
15	Sö, Tystberga, Rogsta	Dress pin?	No	1	Grave	SHM 31046	LBA	Central bone-layer in stone-setting, (A9) including pottery fragments of LBA type and an iron rod, probably part of a dress pin (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 157).	Fragment	Small dress attribute
16	Sö, Tystberga, Rogsta	Knife?	No	1	Grave	SHM 31046	LBA	Found in a cremation grave in a stone-setting (A51). The urn contained two spiral twisted bronze rods, bones and an iron fragment with a triangular profile, probably the tip of a knife. The urnes are of LBA type, similar finds are dated to Period IV-V (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 158).	Fragment	Small cutting tool
17	Sö, Helgona, Påljungshage	Ring	No	1	Grave	Appelgren 2016	LBA-PRIA I	Small iron ring, 5 cm diam, found in rim of grave construction. Interpreted as a LIA amulet ring due to intrusion (Appelgren 2016, p. 14), but could, because of its size be interpreted as a small iron ring of the LBA-PRIA I.		Small support item?
18	Up, Skuttunge, Dragby	Dress pin	No	1 or 2	Grave	UMF 6001	Period VI	Swan’s neck pin in charcoal layer in grave, but not in relation to cremated bones. Stylistically similar to pins from period VI (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 162f).		Small dress attribute
19	Up, Skuttunge, Dragby	Knife	No	1	Grave	UMF 6001	Period VI	Knife fragment in charcoal layer in grave, but not in relation to cremated bones. The relation to a pin (above) and parallels indicate period VI (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 162f).	Fragment	Small cutting tool
20	Up, Härnevi, Härnevi rectory	Casting chaplets	Yes(hanging bowl)	1	Deposition /hoard	SHM 11635	Period V	Hanging-bowl from period V with six chaplets of iron, visible on the inside. Found in hoard with objects and fragments from period V and VI.	Analysed and confirmed to be iron (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 164)	Casting chaplets
21	Up, Lovö, Söderby	Arm bangle	No	1	Grave	Petré 1982	Period VI	Iron bangle decorated with groups of simple lines, found in LBA-EIA stone setting together with six fragments of bronze ring (possibly arm ring) with spiral twist and line décor, hinting at a datering to period VI (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 166)		Body ornament/ jewellery
22	Up, Täby, Tibble	Arm bangles	No	2	Grave	SHM 29348	LBA Period VI-PRIA I	Found in the bottom layer of a grave (A20), close to a bronze spiral-head pin and a neck ring of bronze, with suggested dates of period IV-VI, the neck ring possibly period VI-PRIA I (Modin 1966; Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 167 w. ref.).	Very corroded	Body ornament/ jewellery
23	Up, Börje, Broby	Belt hook?	No	1	Grave in mound of fire-cracked stones	UMF 6030	LBA-PRIA I?	Probably part of a belt hook. The mound (A20) contained LBA finds and several grave deposits (Ojala 2016, p. 256-261). The belt hook was found in a grave deposit with bones, pottery and raisin, not indicative of date (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 169; Ojala 2016, p. 260). Hjärthner-Holdar (1993a, p. 176) suggests that the Nordic belt hooks with double spirals were produced during LBA Period VI-PRIA I.	Fragmentary	Small dress attribute?
24	Up, Söderby-Karls, Norrmarjum	Knife	No	1	Grave	SHM 28003	LBA	Found in stone-setting (A5) with cremated bone and rusticated [swe. Rabbad] pottery, presumed to be of LBA date (Hjärthner-Holdar 1993a, p. 171).		Small cutting tool
25	Up, Tensta, Forsa	Dress pin	No	1	Grave	Aspeborg and Appelgren 2005	LBA-PRIA I	Ring-headed pin found with an inhumation grave with pottery fragments of presumed LBA date. LBA or PRIA I (Aspeborg and Appelgren 2005, p. 15 w. ref.)	Complete except missing tip	Small dress attribute

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