Abstract
development in human history - thus a whole prehistoric era is called by this name. From the first millennium BC iron permeated virtually all spheres of life of ancient societies, either as a material or a currency.
Henceforth, according to its importance those, who mastered the iron working, were also highly esteemed in prehistoric and ancient societies; the deity of Hephaestus and the tales of Prometheus are excellent examples of this phenomenon. Hence, it is startling that the question for the iron working in ancient Greece and for its main actors - the blacksmiths - have been rarely analysed in classical research.
This is most evident in comparison to other labour professions. Unlike potters, sculptors or even bronze-smiths there is a gap in research concerning the social context of iron metallurgy and the question for the craft specialization as well as the social position of smiths within the specific cultural settings of the archaic and classical period.
It is therefore the aim of this paper to draft a development of the blacksmiths in ancient Greece from the 8th to 4th century BC: that means reconstructing the production and social context of the smiths and their transformation from subsidiary to professional craftsmen. This paper is based on analysis of archaeological material from the chora of Miletus, which for the first time provides an extensive evidence for the craft production within a complex, socio-economical region with an immense historical-political importance as a bridge between East and Greek oikumene.