Technology and Social Change in Belgic Gaul

The study of technology and changes in technical processes can be as revealing of culture and culture change as the study of stylistic changes in artifacts. This study focuses on the remains of over 400 years of copper-base metal artifacts and metalworking from excavations of a mint foundry/workshop at the Late Iron Age and Roman site of the Titelberg, Luxembourg. Using metallographic and metallurgical analysis, the author demonstrates the earliest known use of brass in transalpine Europe, documents changing patterns of alloy use over time, and notes the creation and disappearance of two different sociotechnical systems.