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Castel-Minier was a polymetallic production site settled in the Viscounty of Couserans in French Pyrenees and isolated in the valley four kilometers from Aulus-les-Bains village. From the XIIIth to the XVth century, silver, lead and copper were produced with ore extracted on-site and in closed valleys. Besides, by necessity and opportunism, the metallurgists also produced iron for export and on-site use, using ore extracted from the Rancié iron mine. The archaeological excavations carried out over the last twenty years have brought to light a series of tools associated with mining, including 47 handheld chisels (complete or fragmentary) and 2 scrap bars. These chisels represent rare specimens in Western Europe for this period and are the only ones discovered in the French Pyrenees.We previously highlighted the durability and variability of the manufacturing methods of chisels, whether the body or the tip (Méaudre et al., ARN, 28: 69–83, 2023). To continue our discussion, we choose an experimental approach carried out on the "Arts du feu" experimental archaeology platform in Melle and at the "Forges de Pyrene", an ecomuseum with a hydraulic hammer. The purpose is to produce metal from archaeological ore and then to shape type C tools. For this initial approach, the blacksmiths worked without viewing the metallographic analyses, referring only to the metrological data. The aim is to observe the shaping process (welding, shaping the eye ... ) and to collect their feedback.
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