The Technological Study of Iron Items from the Ust’-Sheksna Settlement

Among the Sheksna river basin sites, the Ust’-Sheksna urban settlement is of particular importance. Associations related to iron production and ironworking have been discovered at the site. The paper analyzes the results of the archaeometallographic study of a series of iron items from Ust’-Sheksna. It singles out typical ironworking features; for example, among the forged products, most items were produced using sophisticated technological schemes that included welding of iron and steel. Tools with steel blades welded onto iron bases account for the largest share of the welded products. The technological characteristics of the forged items from Ust’-Sheksna are comparable with those of the forged items from Beloozero reflecting the development level of this medieval Russian craft in the urban environment.