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Sorting Interpretation Finds 1 Finds 2 Finds 3 Finds 4 Finds 5 x-rays Iron the metal Methods
Investigating Ferrous Finds
Half (Currently 41%) of the material produced by the metal survey is ferrous. It is not normal to recover ferrous material because it is unstable and does not easily yield information about its origin.
It is probable that thousands of ferrous items (over 5,000 are expected) will accumulated during these surveys. As the battle was fought between warriors clad in iron who used weapons made of iron there is a case to be made that the site should be enriched with ferrous material. It is known that sites were cleared and material recycled after a battle so only smaller fragments are likely to have survived.
A scan of research material on the web indicates that:
 | Ferrous material is only analysed if its relevance can be inferred from the context in which it is found. |
| Certain shapes, especially those of weapons, can be distinguished and charts of fragments have been produced to aid identification. |
Neither favourable circumstance apply to our situation. These are surface finds, lost in battle or subsequently. The intervening centuries will have allowed corrosion to change the shape.
The intention, nevertheless, is to gather this material:
| The survey will provide a ‘background noise’ against which it might be possible to derive some pointers in the hunt for battles. |
| Statistical analysis might allow a pattern of density to be plotted. The density of finds might provide an indication of activity. |
| 'Hot spots' can be identified. Several can be identified as bonfire debris from the previous century but older areas of high intensity will attract attention. |
I wonder if more information can be extracted from these finds in a way analogous to the many shards collected on every site. Fragments of pottery yield valuable dating information which has been well documented. An expert can extract the information from a quick visual inspection.
Unfortunately, ferrous objects cannot be analysed in such a simple way.
| The shape of the object is often concealed beneath layers of rust or iron-rot which can be revealed if x-rayed from the appropriate direction. |
| The composition of the metal cannot be observed directly although such a ‘finger print’ might be very revealing if a scanning microscope was used or and absorption spectrum was taken. |
| The crystal structure of the metal would reveal much about how the item had been worked but this would require destructive testing. |
| It is possible that some specimens might have retained some magnetic or other trace background environmental information from the time of manufacture. |
Some of these techniques would be destructive. This is not seen as a major problem as the fragments are valuable only for the information they yield. The visually promising finds would be treated by conventional conservation technique.
It is a shame that such a potentially valuable resource should be overlooked especially in the context of the hunt for a battle site when much metal was shed along with blood. I am aware of many techniques that might yield useful results and would appreciate some support to carry out a feasibility study.
CJ 2/03
