IN THE EARLIEST CENTURIES of the Middle Ages, skilled metalsmiths were greatly valued by cult leaders who required impressive objects to maintain social links and the loyalty of their retainers. Despite their clear importance, smiths were peripheral characters operating on the fringes of elite communities. Such treatment may reflect an attempt to limit the influence of metalworkers, whose craft was seen as supernatural and who themselves were probably spiritual figureheads; archaeological evidence associates smiths and their tools in symbolic processes of creation and destruction, not only of objects but also of buildings and monuments. The Church clearly appropriated these indigenous practices, although conversion eventually saw the pre-eminence of the sacred smith and their practice wane. Anthropological study provides numerous comparators for skilled crafters acting as supernatural leaders, and also suggests that as part of their marginal identity, smiths may have been perceived as a distinct gender.

中文翻译：

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王权工匠：中世纪早期的史密斯、精英权力和性别

在中世纪的最初几个世纪，技艺精湛的金属匠受到邪教领袖的高度评价，他们需要令人印象深刻的物品来维持社会联系和追随者的忠诚度。尽管他们的重要性显而易见，但铁匠是在精英社区边缘运作的外围角色。这种待遇可能反映了试图限制金属工人的影响，他们的手艺被视为超自然，而他们自己可能是精神领袖；考古证据将铁匠和他们的工具在创造和破坏的象征过程中联系起来，不仅是物体，而且是建筑物和纪念碑。教会显然挪用了这些土著习俗，尽管皈依最终见证了神圣铁匠的卓越地位，他们的习俗逐渐衰落。