Metal-Working
Metal-working includes making things like jewellery, vessels, coins, and horse harnesses. Some items would have been made by specialist craftsmen, while blacksmiths or ironworkers would have been common at most rural settlements. They would either be making new items or mending old ones so that they could be used again.
Metal-Working Objects
Although iron was the most common metal used in Roman Britain, we have lots of examples of other metals like copper alloy (like bronze) being used to make every-day Roman items. This includes jewellery like brooches and hairpins, coins, toiletry items like tweezers, and special items like bowls, figurines and candlesticks. Many of these objects might have been bought or traded for, and not made locally. Sometimes we find evidence of metal-working happening locally at rural settlements. Containers for melting down metals inside have been found at Lullingstone along with lead ingots. These ingots were the raw material used to make metal objects.
Click on the images below to explore our 3D scans of some metal objects found at Lullingstone Roman Villa.
