ABSTRACT
S uccessful iron production requires the complex amalgamation of several inter-related special-ist technologies (including charcoal production, tuyère production, furnace construction and so on), many of which incorporate a use of plant materials. However, despite the fact that plant use is an integral and necessary component of iron production, it is an aspect of smelting that has been rarely touched upon in the existing archaeological and archaeometallurgical literature. Dedicated studies of plant use within archaeometallurgy are even fewer in number (although notable exceptions include Lyaya 2008; Mikkelsen 1997, 2003; Th ompson and Young 1999).
