Editing Germanic peoples (section)

===Metalworking===
[[File:Viking gold necklace2.jpg|thumb| A 5th-century CE gold collar from Ålleberg, Sweden. It displays Germanic [[filigree]] work.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=123}}]]
Despite the claims of Roman writers such as Tacitus that the ''Germani'' had little iron and lacked expertise in working it, deposits of iron were commonly found in Germania and Germanic smiths were skillful metalworkers.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=127}} Smithies are known from multiple settlements, and smiths were often buried with their tools.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=469}} An iron mine discovered at Rudki, in the [[Łysogóry]] mountains of modern central Poland, operated from the 1st to the 4th centuries CE and included a substantial smelting workshop; similar facilities have been found in Bohemia.{{sfn|Todd|1999|pp=128–129}} The remains of large smelting operations have been discovered by [[Ribe]] in Jutland (4th to 6th century CE),{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=444}} as well as at Glienick in northern Germany and at [[Heeten]] in the Netherlands (both 4th century CE).{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=448–449}} Germanic smelting furnaces may have produced metal that was as high-quality as that produced by the Romans.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=129}} In addition to large-scale production, nearly every individual settlement seems to have produced some iron for local use.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=444}} Iron was used for agricultural tools, tools for various crafts, and for weapons.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=452}}

[[Lead]] was needed in order to make molds and for the production of jewelry, however it is unclear if the ''Germani'' were able to produce lead. While lead mining is known from within the [[Siegerland]] across the Rhine from the Roman Empire, it is sometimes theorized that this was the work of Roman miners.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=455–456}} Another mine within Germania was near modern [[Soest, Germany|Soest]], where again it is theorized that lead was exported to Rome.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=459–460}} The neighboring Roman provinces of [[Germania superior]] and [[Germania inferior]] produced a great deal of lead, which has been found stamped as {{lang|la|plumbum Germanicum}} ("Germanic lead") in Roman shipwrecks.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=455–457}}

Deposits of gold are not found naturally within Germania and had to either be imported{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=120}} or could be found having naturally washed down rivers.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=510–511}} The earliest known gold objects made by Germanic craftsmen are mostly small ornaments dating from the later 1st century CE.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=120}} Silver working likewise dates from the first century CE, and silver often served as a decorative element with other metals.{{sfn|Todd|1999|pp=126–127}} From the 2nd century onward, increasingly complex gold jewelry was made, often inlaid with precious stones and in a [[polychrome style]].{{sfn|Todd|1999|pp=122–123}} Inspired by Roman metalwork, Germanic craftsmen also began working with gold and silver-gilt foils on belt buckles, jewelry, and weapons.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=123}} Pure gold objects produced in the late Roman period included [[torc]]s with snakeheads, often displaying [[filigree]] and [[cloisonné]] work, techniques that dominated throughout Germanic Europe.{{sfn|Todd|1999|pp=123–124}}