Routes of Iron - Least Cost Path Analysis of the Possible Routes and Ways in which Iron was Transported during the Later Part of Iron Age in Scania, Halland and Småland

Sammanfattning: Iron is an important material in the study of societies of the Iron Age and later periods. Not only does it give its name to the period it was also an integrated part in every humans’ life from the Iron Age and forward. And yet this material is many times just assumed to be there without much consideration of how it got there. In this master thesis, the author thus tries to bridge this gap in between the production of iron and the user. This is done using the spatial analysis method of Least Cost Path Analysis in order to explore what energyconservation can tell us about routes and methods used for transportation and travel in the north Scanian, south Halland and south Småland area during the latter part of the Iron Age. The material is gathered from both archaeologic contexts and research as well as from geological data collection and research. The study is conducted using five iron production sites showing signs of production during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. From these several paths are calculated to the destination using three different scenarios, one in which water is assigned low values and thus making travel through water very attractive for the algorithm used to calculate the paths. Then one scenario is used in which water has been somewhat restrained. Lastly, one scenario is used in which water is given the highest values possible forcing the algorithm to choose a terrestrial path. The results of the study are then looked at against a background of Iron Age society and political centres in the landscape, and what this might be able to tell us about where the iron was headed. As the calculation of least cost paths indicates areas in which movement is likely to occur in the landscape the possibility to use the results of studies like this for the prediction of unknown sites in the landscape is explored. The results of the study show that there are strong reasons to believe that the Scanian and Halland waterways have been used more extensively than previously argued for. Further, the results obtained generate good possibilities for future research into the prediction of unknown sites, and several interesting areas have been identified within the scope of this project.