News Archaeology

Arctic hunter-gatherers were advanced ironworkers more than 2,000 years ago

Excavations uncovered furnaces and fire pits for metalworking in what’s now northeastern Sweden

a bronze buckle shown from the front and back

Discoveries from northeastern Sweden, including this molded bronze buckle (front and back shown), have uncovered advanced iron production and metalworking among hunter-gatherers who lived there more than 2,000 years ago.

S. Nygren, © Norrbottens Museum, Carina Bennerhag et al/Antiquity 2021 (CC BY 4.0)

By Bruce Bower

Hunter-gatherers who lived more than 2,000 years ago near the top of the world appear to have run ironworking operations as advanced as those of farming societies far to the south.