Metalworkers occupy a strange place in ancient societies. Their craft can be seen as both proto-scientific, the basis for industry and advancement, and as a mysterious, magical process involving fire and transformation. In Roman Britain, the craft traditions of conquesting armies, settlers and natives met each other in a complex framework of colonial power. This talk explores how metal smiths negotiated this technological, social and ritual landscape, and how their lives were shaped by the wider events around them. 

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