Die kaiserzeitlichen Bunt-und Edelmetallfunde von Kamen-Westick. Verarbeitung römischer Metallimporte in einer germanischen Siedlung: Raw Materials, Innovation, Technology of Ancient Cultures - RITaK 5

Kamen-Westick is among the most important Roman period settlements in Westphalia. In spite of a long history of research, however, the site has barely been analysed. In this publication, Patrick Könemann presents the extensive assemblage of non-ferrous and precious metal artefacts of the 1st to 5th centuries A.D., which comprises both Germanic and imported Roman objects. Here and elsewhere east of the Rhine, Roman non-ferrous and precious metal objects were reworked and and turned into Germanic products. The author hence focuses in particular on “metal recycling” at Kamen-Westick and present results based on archaeological and archaeometallurgical methods. Compared to other Roman period sites in the area between the Ruhr and Lippe, the Roman metal imports from Kamen-Westick are of exceptional quality and quantity. Therefore, the site’s inhabitants could fall back on a wide range of raw materials. Indigenous metallurgists evidently recycled Roman imports with specific characteristics, as revealed by archaeometallurgical analyses: the choice of material was first and foremost determined by its suitability for smithing. In addition, research shows that the composition of locally produced objects correlates with the alloys of Roman metal vessels. The working of non-ferrous metals at Kamen-Westick is indicated by scrap metal, casting residues and the remains of a mould and crucibles. A comparison with other Roman period sites with evidence for non-ferrous metal working suggests that this craft was organised in a similar way at an inter-regional scale. However, Warburg-Daseburg is so far the only site at which the complete production sequence, from scrap metal to finished product, could be documented.