• Iron as a raw material
• A closer look – production and working of iron
• The Raetians
• The Raetians, Celts and Etruscans
   

Iron as a raw material

Iron is the second most common metal on earth after aluminium. Unlike bronze, which consists of 90% copper and 10% tin, iron requires no alloying process.  Moreover, iron is far more malleable and harder than bronze. As a result, a wide variety of tools and other implements were manufactured from iron in Europe starting in the 9th century BC: hatchets, axes, hammers, anvils, picks, pruning knives, scythes, hoes, bells, horseshoes, wagon parts, skewers, firedogs, pokers, door hardware, clamps for woodworking, keys, stirrups, and weapons such as swords, helmets, and shields.
  

A closer look – production and working of iron

In prehistoric times iron was smelted in furnaces known as bloomeries. Charcoal and iron ore were loaded in the bloomery in layers. However, it was not possible to achieve the high temperature of 1539º Celsius necessary to melt the iron and cast it into moulds. The ore did not melt but only formed a spongy mass, known as the bloom. The bloom was removed and heated again to form  a mass. This had to be beaten with a hammer (wrought) until the desired shape was achieved. Such wrought iron was used for making tools, agricultural implements, and weapons.
  

The Raetians

During the late Iron Age the central Alpine region was occupied by the Raetians – at least according to accounts by Greek and Roman authors from the 2nd century BC. However, the authors of antiquity never expressly mentioned a tribe of Raetians but only tribes who settled in the Raetian region.
The most plausible explanation of the name  Raetians is that the Alpine tribes were given the name by outsiders because they worshipped the goddess Reitia. These tribes mainly settled around the Etsch Valley and the Inn Valley on both sides of the Main Alpine Ridge.
  

The Raetians, Celts and Etruscans

Around 550 BC a cultural change swept through the central Alpine region. Under Mediterranean influences, the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture set up home in the southern Alpine valleys and soon spread northward beyond the Main Alpine Ridge.
As representatives of the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture, the Raetians absorbed cultural elements from the Etruscans, who had founded numerous cities on the Po Plain beginning in the 6th century BC. The most notable imported goods from the south included large bronze vessels bearing images of sacrificial ceremonies. When the Celts advanced into northern Italy around 400 BC, the Celtic influence also became important. Raetian warriors adopted iron swords and iron helmets from the Celts, the women glass armlets of traditional Celtic design. For the first time weapons appeared as grave objects, for example in the grave field at Pfatten near Bolzano, where one of the men was buried along with his Celtic helmet.