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Anvils
if I had a hammer............

When you want to shape a piece of iron, it has to be heated to soften it, then hammered into the shape required. Because the iron is red hot, it has to be rested on a non-flammable surface that is hard enough to withstand the hammer blows. There are two materials that are available, a lump of rock, or another piece of iron. In the archaeology we have a number of iron anvils identified. They are much smaller than modern anvils, as iron was expensive. What follows is drawings and description of some that have been found. (The graphics are larger than shown, right click/save then view for more detail)
	Meare Village East ? Anvil, 2 pieces (fig. 3.47). L 95mm. Wt 666g.
Meare Lake Village (West) I 28.Earth-anvil, heavy, of quadrangular cross-section, with a flat top (43 by 46mm.) for hammering upon; the pointed end for driving into the ground is worn and bent upwards; present length 138mm. (about 5.5") Found below the flood soil on the first floor of Mound VIII, 4.75 ft. N.E. of the c.p., 1911 Figured in plate LI
Danebury Hillfort Vol 5 Anvils (2.275 and 2.276) Two substantial blocks of iron (total weight 938 gm) both from the same cp 7 context. No 2.276 is difficult to parallel but has similarities to anvils found at Manching in Germany (Jacobi 1974) and Meare East (Coles 1987, fig 3.53, no 140). Examples of the other type, no 2.275, have been found, though rarely, on several British Iron Age sites, eg at Meare West (Bulleid & Gray 1953, p1 LI, nos I28 (and 132 not illustrated), Meare East (Coles 1987, fig 3.50, no 135), Barbury Castle, Wilts (MacGregor & Simpson 1963, fig 2, no 26) and Gussage All Saints, Dorset (Wainwright 1979, fig 80, no 10l9). MacGregor considered the Barbury example to be an earth anvil.