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Tracing a bog-iron bloomery furnace in an adjacent lake-sediment record in Ängersjö, central Sweden, using pollen and geochemical signals

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Abstract

Recent studies of bloomery sites in Sweden indicate the amount of iron produced with this early low-technology smelter was greater than previously thought, which implies greater economic importance. Little is known about the history of bloomery technology, not least the timeframe over which individual bloomeries were operated, as well as their impact on the landscape because of resource consumption and pollution. In this study we performed pollen and geochemical analyses of the lake-sediment record from Rörtjärnen, which is 120 m from the remains of a documented bloomery [one radiocarbon date: ad 1300–1435 (1 σ)], in Ängersjö, Hälsingland. A surface-soil transect shows a limited geochemical signal only within 20 m of the bloomery, and the sediment pollen record provides little direct evidence of an active bloomery and is consistent with other studied sites in the area linked to forest grazing or cultivation. Instead, we find major changes in sediment geochemistry during ad 800–1200, centered on a unique peak in Pb at ad 1030–1060. These changes include, e.g., Si (biogenic) and P, together with changes in pollen (e.g., Betula, Picea, Cyperaceae), which together indicate disturbance in the forest and especially the adjoining fen. We attribute these changes to a period of bloomery-related activities predating the radiocarbon date of the charcoal from the bloomery, and suggest that date represents a late phase for the site.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Hanna Staland for her contributions to the pollen analysis and Ingemar Renberg for assistance during sediment coring. This research was funded by grants from the Umeå Center for Environmental Research (CMF) and the Swedish Research Council (2011–3638).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Jon Karlsson, Johan Rydberg, Philine Thöle & Richard Bindler

  2. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Ulf Segerström

  3. Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Eva-Maria Nordström

  4. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106, Brunswick, Germany

    Harald Biester

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  1. Jon Karlsson
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Correspondence to Richard Bindler.

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Communicated by M.-J. Gaillard.

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Karlsson, J., Rydberg, J., Segerström, U. et al. Tracing a bog-iron bloomery furnace in an adjacent lake-sediment record in Ängersjö, central Sweden, using pollen and geochemical signals. Veget Hist Archaeobot 25, 569–581 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0567-x

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