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Noric steel, steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 produced in ancient Noricum
Noricum

Noricum, in ancient history geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia. It became a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, was famous in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 period. Noric steel was largely used for the weapons of the Roman military.

The proverbial hardness of Noric steel is expressed by Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
, durior [...] ferro quod noricus excoquit ignis. The iron ore was quarried at two mountains still called Erzberg "ore mountain" today, one at Hüttenberg
Hüttenberg, Austria

H?ttenberg is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria. Heinrich Harrer was born in the town and a museum is dedicated to him today....
, Carinthia
Carinthia

Carinthia may refer to:*Carinthia , a state of the Republic of Austria*Carinthia , a historical and statistical region in Slovenia*March of Carinthia, in the Holy Roman Empire...
 and the other at Eisenerz
Eisenerz

Eisenerz is a market place and old mining town in Styria, Austria, 68 mi. N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein , on the west by the Kaiserschild , and on the south by the Erzberg ....
, Styria, separated by ca.






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Noric steel, steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 produced in ancient Noricum
Noricum

Noricum, in ancient history geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and Slovenia. It became a Roman province of the Roman Empire....
, was famous in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 period. Noric steel was largely used for the weapons of the Roman military.

The proverbial hardness of Noric steel is expressed by Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
, durior [...] ferro quod noricus excoquit ignis. The iron ore was quarried at two mountains still called Erzberg "ore mountain" today, one at Hüttenberg
Hüttenberg, Austria

H?ttenberg is a town in the district of Sankt Veit an der Glan in Carinthia in Austria. Heinrich Harrer was born in the town and a museum is dedicated to him today....
, Carinthia
Carinthia

Carinthia may refer to:*Carinthia , a state of the Republic of Austria*Carinthia , a historical and statistical region in Slovenia*March of Carinthia, in the Holy Roman Empire...
 and the other at Eisenerz
Eisenerz

Eisenerz is a market place and old mining town in Styria, Austria, 68 mi. N.W. of Graz by rail. Pop. 6,400. It is situated in the deep Erzbach Valley, dominated on the east by the Pfaffenstein , on the west by the Kaiserschild , and on the south by the Erzberg ....
, Styria, separated by ca. 70 km.

Buchwald identifies a sword of ca. 300 BC found in Krenovica, Moravia
Moravia

Moravia is a Historical regions of Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River, Central Europe which rises in the northwest of the region....
 as an early example of Noric steel due to a chemical composition consistent with Erzberg ore. A more recent sword, dating to ca. 100 BC, found in Zemplin
Zemplín

Zempl?n is the name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently situated in eastern Slovakia under the name of Zempl?n ....
, eastern Slovakia
Slovakia

Slovakia . It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements....
, is of extraordinary length for the period (95 cm) and carries a stamped Latin inscription (?V?TILICI?O), identified as a "fine sword of Noric steel" by Buchwald. A center of manufacture was at Magdalensberg
Magdalensberg

Magdalensberg is a municipality in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in Carinthia in Austria.The municipality comprises 40 villages and hamlets: Christofberg, Deinsdorf, D?rnfeld, Eibelhof, Eixendorf, Farchern, Freudenberg, Gammersdorf, Geiersdorf, G?riach, Gottesbichl, Gro?g?rtschach, Gundersdorf, Haag, Hollern, Kleing?rtschach,...
.

Bibliography

  • Vagn Fabritius Buchwald, Iron and steel in ancient times, ch. 5: "Celtic Europe and Noric Steel" (2005), ISBN 8773043087.


See also

  • Iron Age Europe
  • Iron Age sword
    Iron Age sword

    Swords made of iron appear from the Early Iron Age , but do not become widespread before the 8th century BC.Early iron swords were not comparable to later steel blades....
  • La Tène culture
    La Tène culture

    The La T?ne culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La T?ne, Marin-Epagnier on the north side of Lake Neuch?tel in Switzerland, where a rich trove of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
  • History of ferrous metallurgy
    History of ferrous metallurgy

    The history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in prehistory, most likely with the use of iron from meteorites. The smelting of iron in bloomery began in the 12th century BC in India, Anatolia or the Caucasus....