18th – 19th May 2020, Koprivnica (Croatia)
On the occasion of the International Museum Day, celebrated in Croatia for the 40th time, a two-day experimental workshop on iron ore smelting was held in the yard of Koprivnica City Museum. In two smelting processes in so-called slag tapping furnaces local bog iron ore collected in March at Kalinovac – Hrastova greda site was used (Tajana Sekelj Ivančan, Ivan Valent, Tena Karavidović, Robert Čimin, Siniša Krznar, Katarina Botić)(PDF).
30th August 2019
In the week following the end of the Renaissance festival in Koprivnica, a simulation of archaeological excavations was carried out on built smelting furnaces in which iron ore was smelted during the festival. The aim of this research was to document certain data in order to compare them with archaeological sites at Virje and Hlebine. During the ‘excavation’, 378 digital photographs were taken.(PDF)
22nd – 25th August 2019
During the Renaissance Festival in Koprivnica, project team members from the Town museum Koprivnica (R. Čimin, I. Valent) together with the staff of the Institute of Archaeology (T. Karavidović, K. Botić, T. Sekelj Ivančan, S. Krznar, T. Tkalčec) and a team member from the Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geology, University of Zagreb (T. Brenko) built clay furnaces and carried out experimental smelting of iron ore as well as primary treatment of the obtained product (bloom). Three clay furnaces of two different types and a smithing hearth were built. Smelting of iron ore was carried out in two different types of furnace reconstruction, slag – tapping furnace (two furnaces) and a pit furnace. In each slag tapping furnace smelting was conducted two times and one time in the pit furnace. Experiments were done with raw and roasted bog iron ore from Somogyfajsz region around Budapest in Hungary, and ore from Olomouchany (Czech Republic). During the experimental construction of furnaces and smelting processes, 1734 digital photographs were taken to document all the activity and procedures.
31st August 2018
In the week fallowing the Renaissance Festival in Koprivnica, a simulation of archaeological excavations was carried out on three furnaces in which iron ore was smelted during the festival. The purpose of this research was to document certain data comparable to the situations on the archaeological sites of Virje and Hlebine. During “the excavation” 624 digital photographs were made (Ivan Valent , Tajana Sekelj Ivančan)(PDF).
23rd – 26th August 2018
During the Renaissance Festival in Koprivnica, the main topic of which was “The secrets of iron” based on the results of the TransFER project, associates from the Municipal Museum in Koprivnica (Robert Čimin, Ivan Valent) together with members of the Institute of Archaeology (Katarina Botić, Tajana Sekelj Ivančan) and an associate from Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb (Tomislav Brenko), carried out an experimental iron smelting. In cooperation with the Centre for Experimental Archaeology in Zagreb (CEXA – Tena Karavidović), four furnaces were constructed of three different types. Grinded iron ore, for this occasion obtained from the Omarska mine near Prijedor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was cast into the furnaces. During the experimental furnace construction and the smelting process itself, 858 digital photographs were made to document all the actions and procedures.
