The Mining Museum of the Basque Country is pleased to announce a new edition of an experimental archaeology demonstration of the archaeometallurgy of ancient and medieval iron, that was so important in these historical ages in Biscay (Spain). This kind of bloomery smelt will show a new experiment that will give us new information for our research and investigations that have been taking place over the last 20 years. The aim of this event is to provide a general idea to the public of how metal was made ancient times using the Biscay furnace type, famous for its iron production in the Basque Country. We will reconstruct the different phases of the main work of those ironworkers. This was their main occupation, a secret that was lost over the years and now experimental archeology is trying to recover it.

This will take place in a new Open-air Museum sited in Peñas Negras, Ortuella (Bizkaia, Spain) and is very important because it faithfully reproduces the original site of a 11th century ironside mountainworks. Everybody is more than welcome to come and join us.

Aimed at students and the general public

For more information please contact:haizeolak@gmail.com (Javier Franco, archaeologist).