Metallurgical activity of the peoples living in the area known as Germania Magna is characterized by an extensive and ad hoc nature which clearly is different from the centralized Roman production model. In the so-called Barbarian parts of Europe however, there were regions where there was a specialized and identifiably large mass production of iron. On Polish lands three such centres were active – in the Holy Cross Mountains, in West Masovia and in some regions of Silesia. The presence within a single cultural unit of several large metallurgical centres functioning on the basis of different organizational patterns is a unique phenomenon and warrants reflection upon the causes of their creation and the meaning of production for their neighbouring areas. These enormous logistical projects indicate the existence of yet unknown to us interdependent social structures of large work teams in the population, evident over a period of several generations. Their reconstruction can help us understand at least some aspects of the social and economic life on Polish lands towards the end of antiquity.

IAD seems to be a rare cause of hyponatremia. In one of the larger clinical studies, in a group of 185 patients with severe hyponatremia (< 130 mmol/L) only 28 had secondary adrenal insufficiency, but most of them had also deficiencies of other pituitary hormones [4]. The mechanism of hyponatremia in IAD includes a reduced glomerular filtration rate and ineffective inhibition of vasopressin secretion caused by hypocortisolaemia [2, 5]. Because IAD is not associated with deficiency of aldosterone, the mechanism of salt-wasting is less important [2]. Diagnosis of IADDiagnostic procedures for IAD should start from assessment of morning cortisol concentrations. Results lower than 3.0 µg/dL, accompanied by low ACTH level, are indicative for IAD [2]. When cortisol is in the range 3.0-10.0 µg/dL, dynamic stimulatory tests [with insulin, glucagon, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), or tetracosactide] are recommended [2,3]. It should be stressed that there is also no cortisol response to Synacthen in the secondary adrenal insufficiency if the standard (not extended) test duration is used. In Poland

Cette troisième et dernière contribution à la présentation de la sidérurgie ancienne des Montagnes Sainte-Croix en Pologne (cf. DHA 21/1, 1995 et 22/1, 1996), comporte l'étude archéométrique de deux ateliers (l'un de forge, l'autre de réduction) décrits précédemment et dresse un tableau d'ensemble de la recherche sidérurgique européenne de l'époque romaine, tant en deçà qu'au-delà du "limes", pour permetre d'y replacer cet immense district productif.

Fourty years of excavations by К. Bielenin in the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland have revealed one of the most important zones of iron production of the period which have been studied so far in barbarian Europe. In this area of about 800 square km there are 6000 sites with an average of 100 furnaces each. Some 10,000 tonnes of iron were produced during the first four centuries AD. This first part of a series of three articles is a synthesis of the results up until 1990 both in the technological field (the supply of ore and fuel, the typology and method of operation of the batteries of furnaces) and in the study of the socio- economic aspects of the iron production. It examines clearly the fundamental question of the outlets for this iron which were probably mainly oriented towards the Roman Empire.

Les plus anciennes traces d'activité métallurgique dans les Montagnes Sainte- Croix datent du 1er siècle avant J.-C, bien que nous ne puissions exclure que la capacité d'effectuer la réduction du fer y soit déjà apparue entre le Ile et le Ille siècle avant J.-C. La production s'est fortement intensifiée à la fin du 1er siècle et au début du Ile siècle. Des groupes de métallurgistes travaillant jusqu'alors à petite échelle furent engagés dans une organisation de grands ateliers qui optèrent pour une production de masse. La majorité des ateliers ainsi organisés fonctionna dans un laps de temps relativement court, qui ne dépasse pas 100 à 1 50 ans environ, pour s'achever au début du Ille siècle.