Evidence Of Sixteenth- And Seventeenth-Century Iron Production And Ironworking In Vidzeme (The Example Of Ropai Manor): An Interdisciplinary Approach

Using Ropai Manor as an example, this article analyzes evidence of iron production and ironworking in Vidzeme in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, characterizing the first results from an interdisciplinary study of this previously almost unresearched field. Content analysis of written sources in conjunction with linguistic analysis, archeological fieldwork, remote sensing and geophysics, paleobotany, and analysis of forest growing conditions illuminate aspects of economic life linked to or hypothetically relating to iron supply and processing, namely iron importation and circulation, craft activities, and charcoal production far exceeding local needs. Local iron production is not proven; neither is there evidence excluding it.