Understanding the British Iron Age

Understanding the British Iron Age
Author: Colin Haselgrove
Publisher: Trust for Wessex Archaeology Limited
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781874350378

This booklet is a working paper which lays out an overall framework for the improvement of archaeological research strategies at a regional level in Britain. A key concern is to address the fact that much of the archaeological work which takes place in Britain today is brought about as the result of urban development. The paper is directed primarily at problems related to the study of the pre-Roman Iron Age, but many of the points in the paper are applicable to other periods. The paper identifies five areas which are central to future research on the British Iron Age: chronological frameworks, settlement patterns and landscape history, material culture studies, regionality, and the nature of socio-economic changes during the period.

The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent

The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent
Author: Rachel Pope
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: Europe
ISBN: 9781785709098

The Earlier Iron Age (c. 800-400 BC) has often eluded attention in British Iron Age studies. Traditionally, we have been enticed by the wealth of material from the later part of the millennium and by developments in southern England in particular, culminating in the arrival of the Romans. The result has been a chronological and geographical imbalance, with the Earlier Iron Age often characterised more by what it lacks than what it comprises: for Bronze Age studies it lacks large quantities of bronze, whilst from the perspective of the Later Iron Age it lacks elaborate enclosure. In contrast, the same period on mainland Europe yields a wealth of burial evidence with links to Mediterranean communities and so has not suffered in quite the same way. Gradual acceptance of this problem over the past decade, along with the corpus of new discoveries produced by developer-funded archaeology, now provides us with an opportunity to create a more balanced picture of the Iron Age in Britain as a whole. The twenty-six papers in the book seek to establish what we now know (and do not know) about Earlier Iron Age communities in Britain and their neighbours on the Continent. The authors engage with a variety of current research themes, seeking to characterise the Earlier Iron Age via the topics of landscape, environment, and agriculture; material culture and everyday life; architecture, settlement, and social organisation; and with the issue of transition - looking at how communities of the Late Bronze Age transform into those of the Earlier Iron Age, and how we understand the social changes of the later first millennium BC. Geographically, the book brings together recent research from regional studies covering the full length of Britain, as well as taking us over to Ireland, across the Channel to France, and then over the North Sea to Denmark, the Low Countries, and beyond.

Iron Age Communities in Britain

Iron Age Communities in Britain
Author: Barry Cunliffe
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 1016
Release: 2004-08-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134277237

Since its first publication in 1971, Barry Cunliffe's monumental survey has established itself as a classic of British archaeology. This fully revised fourth edition maintains the qualities of the earlier editions, whilst taking into account the significant developments that have moulded the discipline in recent years. Barry Cunliffe here incorporates new theoretical approaches, technological advances and a range of new sites and finds, ensuring that Iron Age Communities in Britain remains the definitive guide to the subject.

Britain Begins

Britain Begins
Author: Barry Cunliffe
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 567
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199609330

The story of the origins of the British and the Irish peoples, from the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest - who they were, where they came from, and how they related to one another.

The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond

The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond
Author: Colin Haselgrove
Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
Total Pages: 546
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN:

Over the years, there has been a major shift in Iron Age studies. This volume contains thirty-one papers, which covers the Later Iron Age that is taken to be circa 400/300 BC until the Roman Conquest.

Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain

Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain
Author: John Creighton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2000-07-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139431722

Cunobelin, Shakespeare's Cymbeline, ruled much of south-east Britain in the years before Claudius' legions arrived, creating the Roman province of Britannia. But what do we know of him and his rule, and that of competing dynasties in south-east Britain? This book examines the background to these, the first individuals in British history. It explores the way in which rulers bolstered their power through the use of imagery on coins, myths, language and material culture. After the visit of Caesar in 55 and 54 BC, the shadow of Rome played a fundamental role in this process. Combining the archaeological, literary and numismatic evidence, John Creighton paints a vivid picture of how people in late Iron Age Britain reacted to the changing world around them.

The Iron Age in Lowland Britain

The Iron Age in Lowland Britain
Author: D.W. Harding
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2014-11-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317602854

This book was written at a time when the older conventional diffusionist view of prehistory, largely associated with the work of V. Gordon Childe, was under rigorous scrutiny from British prehistorians, who still nevertheless regarded the ‘Arras’ culture of eastern Yorkshire and the ‘Belgic’ cemeteries of south-eastern Britain as the product of immigrants from continental Europe. Sympathetic to the idea of population mobility as one mechanism for cultural innovation, as widely recognized historically, it nevertheless attempted a critical re-appraisal of the southern British Iron Age in its continental context. Subsequent fashion in later prehistoric studies has favoured economic, social and cognitive approaches, and the cultural-historical framework has largely been superseded. Routine use of radiocarbon dating and other science-based applications, and new field data resulting from developer-led archaeology have revolutionized understanding of the British Iron Age, and once again raised issues of its relationship to continental Europe.

British Iron Age Swords and Scabbards

British Iron Age Swords and Scabbards
Author: Ian Mathieson Stead
Publisher: British Museum Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2006
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN:

British Iron Age swords and scabbards are here catalogued in detail for the first time. They are grouped on the basis of typologies of components and are discussed with special reference to their decoration, context and chronology. Artefact studies have been neglected for many years, and this subject was last tackled in a paper published in 1950. Since then, the material available for study has tripled, from 93 to 274 items, and new archaeological discoveries include several elaborately decorated scabbards. Illustrations include 71 full pages of line drawings, while additional contributions examine the technology of some of the swords and provide a discussion of their enamelled decoration. Contents: Introduction; Typology and terminology; Group A: Swords of medium length and scabbards with open chape ends; Group B: Swords of medium length and scabbards with closed chape ends; Group C: Long swords and scabbards with campanulate mouths; Group D: Long swords and scabbards with straight mouths; Group E: Earlier swords and scabbards in the north; Group F: Later swords and scabbards in the north; Group G: Short swords in the south and the north; Group H: Swords and scabbards of mixed traditions; Discussion; Appendices; The technology of some of the swords; Weapons and fittings with enamelled decoration; The Isleworth sword: a note on the brass foils; A technical report on the Orton Meadows scabbard; The scientific examination of the Asby Scar sword and scabbard; The extraction of swords from their scabbards; Catalogue; Bibliography.

Iron Age Mirrors

Iron Age Mirrors
Author: Jody Joy
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Limited
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781407307039

Mirrors are amongst the most well known British Iron Age objects. They are of a type which is peculiar to Britain and are significantly different in form from contemporary Greek, Etruscan and Roman forms. 58 mirrors are known. They are made of bronze and iron, or sometimes a combination of bronze and iron components. Mirrors comprise a handle and a reflective plate, which is often decorated with intricate and free-flowing designs. Some plates are also rimmed. Mirrors are found throughout Britain; two have been discovered in Ireland and two others are known from the continent. They are most commonly found in graves; but were also deposited in bogs and rarely at settlements. They date to the mid-late Iron Age. This book tests the applicability of the biographical approach to prehistoric objects and the application of the biographical approach to prehistoric material culture is evaluated by constructing biographies for Iron Age mirrors. This study is divided into three main sections. In the first section mirrors are introduced as is the theoretical methodology (Chapter 2). Chapter 1 explains what mirrors look like, the contexts they are found in and how they have been studied in the past to pinpoint what we do not yet understand about them and what needs further clarification. In Chapter 2 the biographical approach to artefacts is outlined; how it has been used in archaeology and how the approach will be utilised to expand our knowledge of mirrors and the broader Iron Age context by reconstructing the relationships that constitute mirrors and their biographies. Chapter 3 examines evidence for the production of Iron Age metal artefacts as well as investigating the context of the production of metalwork in ethnographic contexts. The aim is to develop an understanding of the technology of mirror production, the relationships established through their production and the potential future trajectories of the life of a mirror set out at the time of manufacture. In Chapter 4 mirror decoration is examined. Chapter 5 summarises the results of a programme of visual examination of the physical condition of surviving mirrors. Over 30 mirrors were examined for signs of wear, polishing and repair; clues which can indicate how mirrors were used and inform us about their social lives. Chapter 6 examines the form of mirrors. In the third section deposition context is examined. Chapter 8 is the first comprehensive dating audit of all Iron Age mirrors. In Chapter 9 all of the deposition data is collected. Chapter 10 is an analysis of the results of Chapter 9. In Chapter 11 the implications of these findings for wider research and the future of the application of the biographical approach to archaeological research, is assessed.