Noric steel
Noric steelwas asteelfromNoricum,a kingdom located in modern Austria andSlovenia.
The proverbial hardness of Noric steel is expressed byOvid:"...durior [...] ferro quod noricus excoquit ignis..."which roughly translates to "...harder than iron which Noric fire tempers [wasAnaxaretetowards the advances ofIphis]... "[1]and it was widely used for the weapons of theRoman militaryafter Noricum joined the Empire in 16 BC.[2]
The iron ore was quarried at two mountains in modernAustriastill calledErzberg"ore mountain" today, one atHüttenberg,Carinthia[3]and the other atEisenerz,Styria,[4]separated byc. 70 km.The latter is the site of the modernErzberg mine.
Buchwald[5]: 118 identifies a sword ofc. 300 BCfound in Krenovica,Moraviaas an early example of Noric steel due to a chemical composition consistent with Erzberg ore. A more recent sword, dating toc. 100 BCand found inZemplin,easternSlovakia,is of extraordinary length for the period (95 cm, 37 in) and carries a stamped Latin inscription (?V?TILICI?O), identified as a "fine sword of Noric steel" by Buchwald.[5]: 120 A center of manufacture was atMagdalensberg.[5]: 124
See also
[edit]- Iron Age Europe
- Iron Age sword
- La Tène culture
- History of ferrous metallurgy
- Toledo steel
- Damascus steel
- Wootz steel
- Bulat steel
- Tamahagane steel
- Crucible steel
References
[edit]- ^"...harder than iron tempered by Noric fire [wasAnaxaretetowards the advances ofIphis']... ",Metamorphoses,14.712
- ^"Noricus ensis,"Horace,Odes, i. 16.9
- ^46°56′N14°34′E/ 46.933°N 14.567°E
- ^47°32′N14°54′E/ 47.533°N 14.900°E
- ^abcVagn Fabritius Buchwald(2005). Ch.5: "Celtic Europe and Noric Steel".Iron and steel in ancient times.Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.ISBN87-7304-308-7.