Metal

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Archaeologist Rose Ferraby concludes her reflections on the human need to craft objects. In Sheffield for the final essay, Rose explores the steel industry that transformed the city and meets individuals still forging this craft today. Since the arrival of metals in Britain in the Late Neolithic period, this material has revolutionised practical tasks and has driven social transformation. It’s easy to take such an extraordinary invention for granted; but visiting a cutler and a blacksmith in Sheffield, Rose finds enchantment in the magic of metallurgy, seeing it as a testament to human creativity and endeavour. Rose Ferraby is an artist, archaeologist and writer whose EarthWorks essays explore traces of human history around the British Isles. In the first series, Rose considered broad aspects of landscape - Wold, Fen, Mountain, Island and Moor, places in which archaeology can reveal change and human adaptations through time; and in the second series, she zoomed in closer to examine different cultural spaces preserved in the archaeological record - Town, Grave, Quarry, Field and Monument, all of which serve enduring purposes to this day. This new series focuses in fine-grained detail on the materials that have shaped human cultures and societies. Looking in turn at stone, wood, pottery, leather and metal, and the ways in which they’re crafted and understood, she reflects on how these materials can connect us to landscape, community and place. Written and presented by Rose Ferraby Produced by Mark Smalley A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Series Image: ‘Dark Peak’ by Rose Ferraby