Previous research by the research group and substantial new archaeological evidence has shown that iron technology (incl. bloomery steel production and smithing) was an integral part of the hunter-gatherer subsistence in Arctic Sweden already 2 200 years ago. This project aims at examining the underlying mechanisms of technology transfer through material analysis of an extensive but previously unexplored metallurgical material found in Arctic Fennoscandia. The material consists of finds collected during surveys and excavations of ancient settlements in Sweden, Finland and Norway from the 1950s onwards, but has not previously been analyzed further due to tenacious theories of a much later arrival of iron technology to the area and conditioned by a sedentary way of living. Thus, the role of hunter-gatherers in the adoption and transfer of iron has not previously been explored. In the project we draw on the importance of archaeometrical methods in combination with new perspectives on the transfer of technology, such as the relevance of social networks. Given the lack of previous in-depth studies of the transfer of iron technology, the project will be an important contribution. It will also contribute new knowledge about the rather unexplored social lives and networks of the hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric Arctic. There is further important added value in that ore extraction still affects people in the area and a more complete picture of the historical heritage is needed.