This page was created by Anonymous. The last update was by Peter Cobb.
Iron Nails are a Lot More Interesting than they Seem!
August 2021
Though this iron nail found at the site in Vedi is only a little more than 2 centimeters long, there may be a lot of interesting stories behind its creation and its use! Before you keep reading, here's a link to a short video of a blacksmith making a flat head iron nail.
Being a blacksmith has always been a male-dominated profession, but in the medieval era, parts of this job may have been left to women. A page of the Holkham Bible Picture Book, which was produced in London between 1320 - 1340 CE, depicts a woman pounding iron to form a nail. Women were often given this role because of the Christian folklore of the era. One of the stories that circulated involved a woman blacksmith forging the four nails that were used to crucify Jesus Christ. Though this is not in the Bible, it is one of many folktales that shaped perceptions of a woman’s role in society.
A site in the Kasakh Valley, Armenia further highlights the uses of iron nails and why this technology is found across medieval Europe and the Near East. An excavation of the Arai-Bazaejugh caravanatun, essentially a roadside inn, uncovered iron flathead nails that look very similar to the ones discovered in Vedi. They found pottery sherds and other iron tools, but the nails by far were the most prevalent because they were used in the construction of the carts of the travelers from both Europe and East Asia that passed through the region. Iron nails were used in regular construction but it’s interesting to see that large amounts of these dating anywhere from the 12th century to the 15th century were crafted in Armenia and abroad. The significance of iron nails does not end here.
A shocking amount of people outside of the archeological community have an interest in medieval iron nails in 2020. When I first began researching this artifact, instead of finding scholarly articles and museum webpages as I expected, Google recommended dozens of medieval/renaissance fair supply websites. In case you’re not aware, medieval fairs are events where people dress up in medieval garb, pitch tents to sell period-appropriate souvenirs, hold jousting tournaments, eat giant turkey legs, and do anything else reminiscent of that era. Though it may seem like a small detail, medieval supply sites sell accurate replicas of iron nails and stakes to complete the realistic looks. There is even a supplier in Armenia that is currently out of stock because of their popularity.
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- Armenia 2020 Peter Cobb