Productions, commerces et consommation du fer dans le Sud de la Gaule de la Protohistoire à la domination romaine

Abstract

In South Gaul, the iron craft appears during Protohistory, and its generalization spreads over a long span under continental and Mediterranean influences. Here, we’ll discuss the role the Gallic heritage and the Roman colonization played in the first developments of ironwork industry in mediterranean Gaul by a critical assessment based on the available archaeological documentation. Our reasoning goes from the appearance of the first iron objects in the 8th-7th c. BC to the Roman Empire power, and focuses on four main issues: the importance of iron in the material culture of the different societies, the size of forge activities developed in the settlements, which exploitation strategies of iron ore deposits are used, and finally what networks and trade standards of wholesale iron are developed in the South of Gaul, from Protohistory to the Roman Empire ?