September 2021 marked the end date of the project IP-2016-06-5047 “Production of iron along the Drava River in antiquity and the Middle Ages: creation and transfer of knowledge, technology, and goods”. One of the results of the project is the publication of the book Interdisciplinary Research into Iron Metallurgy along the Drava River in Croatia: The TransFER Project, edited by the project’s Principal Investigator Tajana Sekelj Ivančan and doctoral student Tena Karavidović and published by Archaeopress, Oxford 2021.

The research presented in the book explores the evidence for and nature of iron production in the lowland area of the central Drava River basin in Croatia during late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, from the turn of the 4th to the early 9th centuries. The wide-ranging methodology of the research features non-destructive archaeological site identification (surface survey and geophysics), archaeological excavation of sites with attested bloomery iron production and processing along with their associated dwelling and settlement structures, as well as experimental archaeology. The record of bloomery iron production and processing is explored via an interdisciplinary approach that examines the technology used as well as the natural resources (bog iron ores, wood, and plant remains) exploited in the production process. The results of the research testify to the importance and longevity of iron production in the area of the Drava river valley.

The publication can be found on the official website of Archaeopress publishing.