Fyllinges ugnar. Olika sätt - olika hantverkare eller experiment?

The remnants of the walls of three different iron furnaces excavated at Fyllinge 20:436, Snöstorps parish in Halland were studied in order to compare the technology behind their construction. Were they a wholly local enterprise or might itinerant iron production craftsmen be responsible for their construction? The results may be interpreted as a local development of the knowledge of furnace building – from the use of clay with inferior thermal qualities in an earlier part of the Pre Roman Iron Age to informed choices of raw materials in the two later furnaces. In one of the latter instances clay of the same type as in the first furnace was used but tempered with sand and plant material in order to improve the thermal qualities. In the other instance, another clay with better thermal properties had been chosen. This furnace had even been reused as was revealed by the traces of a repair layer on the inside.