DANUBE RIVERBED YIELDS EUROPE'S LARGEST IRON AGE IRON HOARD

Archaeologists have identified a haul of iron bars found in the Danube River near Deinham, Austria, as the largest known assemblage of prehistoric iron bars in Europe. Workers discovered the bars during gravel extraction in 2019, and researchers Peter Trebsche of the University of Innsbruck and Marion Berranger, whose institutional affiliation is given as the Archaeomaterials Research Institute in France or the Université de Technologie de Belfort Montbéliard depending on the source, analysed the find and published their results in the journal Antiquity. The bars, at least 500 in number and reports differ slightly on the precise count, weigh more than a metric tonne in total. Each measures roughly 30 centimetres in length and was hammered into a double-pointed, bipyramidal shape, identifying them as semi-finished products intended for reworking. Radiocarbon dating places the find within the La Tène period, with some material potentially dating to the 4th century BC.

Trebsche said the volume of iron recovered would have been enough to equip a large group of warriors with weapons, and described the discovery as remarkable given that such finds often go unreported and end up with scrap dealers rather than researchers. He credited the finders with donating the trove to a state museum collection rather than disposing of it. Researchers say the bars were most likely being transported by boat down the Danube for trade when they were lost, probably in a shipwreck, though no remains of a vessel have been found. One report suggests the iron may have originated from production sites in Bavaria, located near fortified Iron Age settlements known as oppida.

The exact origin and intended destination of the shipment remain unknown, according to the researchers. Trebsche said the scale of the find points to significantly increased iron production capacity in the Danube region during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The findings are described as offering rare insight into the organisation of iron manufacturing and long-distance trade networks in later prehistoric Central Europe.