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The excavation of archaeological sites often yields a range of material evidence for metalworking. This datasheet is intended to provide an introduction to the post-excavation study of such evidence. The post-excavation process should in most cases be divided into an initial assessment stage which will identify any need for a full analysis stage.

Geophysical techniques have become a standard tool in archaeological fieldwork. This datasheet addresses both the recognition of metallurgical features within general surveys and the design of surveys to meet metallurgical purposes.

There is a clear distinction, both in the scale and type of remains, between metalworking on ‘early’ sites and later ‘industrial’ activity. In practice, this means some variation in approach between the examination of ‘greenfield’ and ‘brownfield’ sites.

Project management techniques are widely used to plan and monitor the progress of archaeological projects. Project management makes the aims, objectives, methods, timetable, risks and outcomes explicit. It is common to divide a project into a series of stages where the relevant aspects of the project can be reviewed and the project as a whole re-focused if necessary. Archaeological evidence for metallurgical activities is routinely encountered and effective archaeological project management needs to take this into account.

Evidence for past metalworking survives in the archaeological record in a number of different ways. Many of the larger metalworking sites survive as distinct landscape features due to the construction of structures, as well as the excavation and movement of large volumes of soil and rock. Archaeological excavation frequently recovers features and structures associated with metalworking as well as the associated durable residues and waste materials.