Session 1: Settlement, Landscape and Environmental Studies
Krystyna Truscoe, University of Reading
Inside and Outside: Linear Earthworks and the Landscape of Territorial Oppida in Southern Britain
My doctoral research focuses on an analysis of the landscapes of Late Iron Age territorial oppida in Southern Britain, primarily using LiDaR and aerial photographs. The features thought to constitute these sites have often been considered in isolation from their environs: linear earthworks or dykes and nucleated areas, or multiple foci, of settlement. The linear dykes have been depicted as delineating areas of land and dividing it into particular zones, with areas identified as being ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ the oppidum. The picture appears to be more complex; distribution of domestic and mortuary sites at Colchester demonstrates that they are both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. The function of the linear dykes may therefore be one of directing movement around a wider landscape rather than cutting off a particular area, a theory that may be supported by the presence of entrances observed in the dykes at Chichester and Colchester. They are complex monuments and, though often referred to as ‘systems’, research has shown that they were created in many phases. For example, the dykes at Colchester were created from at least the Late Iron Age to after the Roman conquest of Britain. Detailed field survey suggests that each dyke has its own individual, rich, biography.
Past definitions of their function have been couched in military terms; they have been seen as primarily defensive and are described in a similar manner as 20th century anti-invasion defences (e.g. Hawkes & Crummy 1995). More recent consideration of linear earthworks across the later prehistoric period suggests that they had a symbolic as well as a practical purpose, reinforcing the connection of people to the land in which they lived and helping to define their identity as a community. (Bevan 1997, 184).
Pablo Barruezo-Vaquero, University of Glasgow
Co-Author: David Laguna Palma, University of Granada
Human Ecodynamics, Landscapes and Digital Archaeology: Intricating the Iron Age
The term “Human Ecodynamics” (HE) represents a new paradigm developed from an anthropological and archaeological focus. The paradigm implies the study of the interrelationship between humans and the environment through both space and time, recognizing the mutual agency which both entities have on each other. In other words, HE focuses on the study of the human-nature systems. The paradigm, as such, proposes new inquiries, as well as new methodological approaches.
On the other hand, archaeology has always analysed human material remains from the past. Landscapes are one category of such remains because humans have always dwelt and lived in them. Indeed, Landscape archaeology was developed due to this interest in landscapes -and since its inception, both its theory and method have been in continual evolution. The introduction of Human Ecodynamics, however, allows for new perspectives which enhance our understanding of a landscape: it is a non-linear construction in which humans and non-humans interact at different scales.
Turning to the Iron Age, HE offers a new vision for understanding the construction of landscapes during a crucial moment of constant transition -as this period was. This paradigm forces us to make use of an increasing array of multiple datasets. As a consequence, it opens up the question of how to create and use data (e.g. building remains) which can be mapped and linked with other types of data (e.g. pollen) for enhancing our understanding of the Iron Age. Here is where we bring to the fore computational ontologies not only to map data but to create better narratives. Therefore, HE and computational ontologies help us to better understand the historical-ontological complexity of culture/nature/human/non-humans by reorganising datasets. This theoretical and digital approach, moreover, might shed new light on current debates such as the Anthropocene: what role had different entities during the North Atlantic Iron Age in the transformation of landscapes?
Clodagh O’Sullivan, University College Cork
Deposition in Iron Age Ireland
The practice of deposition is known to have been widespread across Europe during both the prehistoric and early historic periods. Iron Age Ireland was of no exception, with large quantities of artefacts deposited as hoards or singly, often into wetland sites such as bogs, rivers or lakes. The artefacts recovered from Irish sites have been largely examined with a focus on their stylistic and technical aspects. However, there has not yet been a comprehensive investigation into the practice of deposition in Iron Age Ireland in its own right. Why were particular artefacts chosen to be deposited at certain sites and under what circumstances and belief systems?
As part of my master’s thesis I am currently examining the practice of deposition in Iron Age Ireland, through a contextual and landscape analysis. This paper will discuss several case studies which are being examined through my research.
The research history of the study of Irish Iron Age deposition shall be also outlined and will be contextualised within the broader study of deposition in Ireland, Britain and the European continent.
The contextual and landscape analysis of Irish Iron Age deposition sites has great potential to further our understanding of the practice – a greater understanding of which shall also provide new information on wider cultural, religious and social aspects of Iron Age Ireland. The study of the topic from this new perspective will play a significant role in enriching our understanding of the Iron Age in Ireland.
Session 2: Materials, Function and Art
Sarah Downum, University of Reading
Visual Culture and ‘Decoration’ in Iron Age Britain: Seeing Beyond Metal
The study of ‘decoration’ on Iron Age artefacts has traditionally been dominated by metalwork and is often limited to interpretations around more ‘elite’ social organizations. However, a broader exploration involving a variety of decorated materials such as pottery, bone, and wood will enhance our knowledge of more local and communal forms of visual expression. By identifying patterns in the archaeological record, it is possible to correlate these to different social interactions, specifically with respect to interconnectivity and the use of a ‘communal’ visual language. As the presence of decoration on non-metal artefacts is inconsistent, it is important for us to consider why these decorative features were added to particular artefacts and how these conscious choices unite or define Iron Age communities.
Within this project, focus is placed on the interconnectivity achieved through the visual manipulation of material culture from the Later Iron Age through early Roman Britain, particularly in regards to decorated pottery, bone/antler ‘combs’ and wood during periods of social and economic change. Data collection is based on key sites from three regions in southern Britain: Danebury, Meare Lake Villages, and Dragonby. Key objectives focus on 1) visual representations shared between different artefact types and materials, particularly looking at how they relate to one another, how they relate back to metalwork, and how these visual expressions represent inter- and intra-regional social connections; and 2) the significance of different visual responses to Roman occupation within southern Britain. While still in the cross-examination stage, initial results highlight a large shared visual culture that crosses both materials and regions, with certain features found throughout, as well as a shared visual response to changing social circumstances. However, independent features found within individual sites present a potentially growing interest in identity during the Later Iron Age.
Rebecca Ellis, University of Hull
The European Menagerie: The Development of Animals and Humans in La Tène Art in England and Wales, with their Continental Counterparts
Based on initial results from current PhD research funded by the Heritage Consortium, this paper will demonstrate how continental connections have had three very different results on the development and use of animal and human figures within La Tène art in England and Wales. The first example will present the recently identified plastic sub-style bovine from Norfolk (Ellis and Lamb forthcoming), and how its creation seems to have sparked a regional trend of unique items over the next two centuries.
This paper will then present six human characters and demonstrate their use in both Britain and Europe. Thirdly, this paper will identify how ‘European wide’ items have also been given their own unique British twist, with particular reference to artefacts from the Isle of Wight. These results derive from a new data-based approach to La Tène art that focuses on genuinely figurative forms, and which continues to question previously long-held assumptions about animal and human use and symbolism during this period.
Amber Rivers, Orkney College Archaeology Institute, University of Highlands and Islands
Identifying the Function of Long-Handled Combs through Creative Practice
Long-handled antler and bone combs become ubiquitous during the Middle Iron Age across sites in the UK. Based on their morphology and use-wear there has been much debate over the last two centuries as to these combs’ intended use; ranging from combing wool fibres in preparation for spinning (Coughtrey 1870-72) to tablet weaving (Tuohy 2000). However, no scholars with a practical knowledge of textile production have attempted to use creative practice to answer this question. This paper shall present an experimental archaeology study of combs from The Cairns, an Iron Age settlement on South Ronaldsay, Orkney, which used a two-pronged approach of creative practice and use-wear analysis to identity the most likely purpose of these tools and the types of products they created. Replicas of three combs from this site were used to comb human hair, prepare raw Shetland wool for spinning, and to comb the weft threads on a warp-weighted loom. The combs were assessed for their ease of use in each experiment, and the use wear which resulted was compared to the markings on the original specimens. The results of these examinations concluded that these tools most likely functioned as weaving implements, and furthermore that the variety of sizes and teeth gauges reflects the type of cloth they were intended to produce. This study has implications beyond the site in question. The presence of these artefacts at sites throughout the UK can now shed light on the types of weaving which occurred and the types of cloth which were made at those locations. Furthermore, now that their purpose is better understood, the proliferation of these combs during the Middle Iron Age can help us recognise the increasingly important economic and social roles of textiles during this period.
Session 3: Continental Connections
Misha Enayat, University of Southampton
Acquired Tastes? Food and Drink in Iron Age Britain
As a communal activity, eating is encoded with social meaning: what and how we eat expresses belief, status, group affinity or differentiation and identity. There is a growing recognition within archaeology of the significance of food practices, limited research has been undertaken on food production during the British Iron Age, and even less on food preparation, consumption and practice beyond subsistence and nutritional concerns.
A growing body of evidence from disparate excavations in England’s southeast has established that by the Late Iron Age (c. 150 BC – AD 43) food and drink were being used socially and politically in ways that were distinctly different from earlier periods. Grave goods from the few rich burials suggest newly emerging ideas about food as a marker of identity, and charred plant and faunal remains indicate shifting food regimes. Ceramic assemblages imply the adoption and adaptation of exotic continental foodstuffs, practices and material culture.
This paper will examine the culinary components, means of preparation, and practices of consumption during the Later Iron Age. A synthesis of data from published and unpublished reports with assemblages – primarily ceramic, osteological and archaeobotanical – from Middle to Late Iron Age settlement sites and burials from the southeast of England forms the basis of this research. Ultimately, this paper aims to explore how these patterns correspond with contemporary continental practices to shed light on the ways cross-Channel relationships manifested in changing consumption habits in pre-Roman Britain.
Tom Booth, Francis Crick Institute
Co Authors: Michael Isakov, Nick Patterson, Nadin Rohland, Ian Armit and David Reich
Movements of People into Britain during the Middle-Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age: Results from Ancient DNA
Present-day populations from Britain tend to harbour more ancestry from European Early Farmer (EEF) populations than did people who inhabited Britain from the Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, implying that there might have been substantial gene flow into Britain from the European continent at a later time. Analysis of new genome-wide data generated from human remains dating from the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age (ca. 1600 BC- 43 AD) indicate that this increase in EEF ancestry mainly occurred 1300-800 BCE and affected southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland). This gene flow attenuated in the Iron Age, and there is little evidence for substantial movements of people in periods and areas that adopted continental-influenced (La Tène) material culture.
We also find evidence for coincident Middle-Late Bronze Age ancestry shifts in Bohemia and Iberia that had the effect of homogenizing ancestry between northern Europe (where EEF ancestry increased) and southern Europe (where it decreased). These population movements are associated with archaeological evidence for the establishment of intense networks of exchange, trade and common ritual practices which comprise the Atlantic Bronze Age and Urnfield traditions. Our results highlight the Middle-Late Bronze Age in western and central Europe as a peak of both exchange and human movement in European prehistory.
Angela Pisani, VZW De Gallische Hoeve (BE)
The Gaul Farm in Destelbergen Belgium
The Gaul Farm in Destelbergen Belgium is a reconstruction of an Iron Age farm from the first century BC and an EXARC member. We function as an open-air museum presenting historical crafts and some insight into Iron Age daily life in a rural setting to a broader public. An important part of the museum’s work is stimulating experimental archaeological research. We attempt to facilitate research conducted in a way that brings researchers and crafts people closer to each other and their research material.
Research is not conducted in a vacuum and we are continuously looking for opportunities to keep our educational material up to date and find easy of offering research opportunities to interested students and researchers.
A lot of our current projects might serve as inspiration for current and future researchers and we are always happy to help finding information relating to continental digs.
Session 4: Death, Burial, Violence and Treatment of the Body
Emma Tollefsen, University of Manchester
Storytelling through Bones: The Case of Knapton Wold, North Yorkshire
Archaeology is about storytelling. We look at material culture from the past and tell the stories of the people who lived before us. When you work with human remains, the details of the stories you tell often come from the clues written by, on and even in the bones themselves – they form a crucial part of interpreting and understanding life and death in the past.
Using the case study of two Iron Age burials discovered at Knapton Wold in North Yorkshire in 2017, this paper will highlight the wealth of information that can be gained about the post-mortem treatment of a corpse after the death of an individual through employing various scientific analyses that investigate taphonomic changes to bone at a microscopic level. Assessing diagenetic signatures in bone provides insights into whether an individual was buried immediately after death, if there was a delay in burial which accommodated special treatments and funerary performances, or if the remains of a person have undergone several phases and instances of burial and reburial.
At Knapton Wold the histological study of the remains was able to tell two unique and distinct stories about how these women were cared for after death – stories which traditional osteological and archaeological approaches failed to pick up on.
Finally, this paper will argue for the continued importance of looking at post-mortem histories and taphonomic trajectories within funerary archaeology, and incorporating these types of scientific microscopic methods into research agendas as the data that can be gained from invasive sampling strategies help us tell more detailed and nuanced stories of individuals’ journey in death – and reveal new facets to Iron Age mortuary practices and funerary ideologies in later prehistory.
Catherine Jones, University of Manchester
Swords and their Scars: Death and the Sword in Iron Age Britain
The sword is visible in the archaeological record not only as a physical artefact but also in the scars it has left behind as sharp force trauma upon skeletal remains. It is the only weapon to have been created for the sole purpose of inflicting harm upon another human being, making it a lethal object capable of causing death as well as a symbol of conflict and violence. In addition, select Iron Age swords appear to have endured a ritualised ‘death’ of their own. Several British examples reveal evidence of purposeful destruction in an apparent decommissioning event, and parallels of this performative act are visible throughout Europe.
The sword had purpose beyond its capability as a weapon and it is possible to explore this through discussion of identity relating to warrior culture. As an object imbued with combative significance, its inclusion within certain graves gives rise to speculation of the identity of the deceased with whom it was interred. This paper seeks to combine two narratives for the sword by discussing the evidence of its violent employment revealed by skeletal remains, and also the reverence of it as a dangerous weapon which in certain circumstances required destroying prior to its final deposition.
Regional case studies will be presented in order to illustrate how the sword can be viewed as having multiple connections with death and violence. Drawing on evidence from familiar sites alongside more recent discoveries, this paper seeks to add to our understanding of the social role of swords and scabbards during the British Iron Age period.
Matthew Hitchcock, University of Manchester
Re-Framing the Shield in Iron Age Britain
This paper will present a summary of the work from a PhD about shields from England and Wales. Drawing on assemblage theory, post-humanism, and the anthropology of art, it will critically analyse their purpose, role and meaning in a move toward a more nuanced understanding of this class of object. Comprising some of the most well-known pieces of British Celtic art, this paper will also present new research on some of the most recent and illuminating shield discoveries from the UK.
Session 5: Post-Humanist and Assemblage-Based Approaches
Jane Barker, University of Manchester
Enigmatic Horsegear: Human – Animal – Thing Assemblages
Elaborately decorated horse gear appears within different depositional assemblages in Iron Age Britain – in funerary contexts, pits and hoards. Previous research into horse gear has focused mainly on typological approaches, researching different component parts, such as bits or terrets, or on art and decoration. This new PhD research takes a different approach, researching complete assemblages of humans, ponies and things.
By taking a posthumanist, assemblage-based approach, the aim is to gain an understanding of the importance of ponies in Iron Age Britain. Applying an assemblage-based approach allows for the wider relationships between ponies, people, landscapes, technology and beliefs to be explored, whilst also considering the wider role of equine imagery applied to many forms of material culture.
This research also affords an opportunity to gain a better understanding of chariotry and equitation, and the role that the pony may have played in worldviews and spiritual beliefs. The purpose of the horse gear will also be investigated in relation to the identity and social status of the pony, questioning whether these elaborate costumes honoured a spiritual belief about the pony, or were a reflection of the social identity of the pony itself.
Andrew Reynolds, University of Reading
New Insights into Old Hoards: A Reinvestigation into the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Metalwork Depositions of Wales and the Marches
Details of the Late Bronze age and Iron Age hoards in Wales and the Marches recently found are readily available thanks to the national Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) website. However, as archaeologists in Wales keep pace with numerous new finds in all the regions of the country and the Marcher borders, there is a real danger that earlier discoveries will be overlooked. This can sometimes be the case in the principality where the hoard artefacts are not safely curated in museums or they are not accessible to the public.
A key aspect of this initial doctoral research seeks to address the question of what was found and recorded in Wales and the Marches prior to the recent flood of metal-detector related finds. The study describes the circumstances of discovery of each Late Bronze Age and Iron Age hoard before the twenty first century, including hoards such as Llyn Fawr (discovered in 1909-11), Llyn Cerrig Bach (1942). In all 45 hoards are considered including the few finds of contemporary gold such as the Gaerwen Hoard (1856). In line with the rest of the research project, possible patterns of selective or reflective deposition are investigated (Fontijn 2019), as well as the topography of find locations and the possible liminal nature of any persistent places of deposition (Yates, Bradley and Dunk 2019).
The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age hoards of Wales and Marches seem to suggest a systematic and reflective pattern of behaviour (Boud 2009) and (Kolb 1984), a shared practice carried out many times, regionally or locally. The hoards often contain historical, fragmentary, insular and continental artefacts in a particular way, perhaps a brand (Fontijn and Roymans 2019). These forgotten hoards offer a significant insight into the identity, society and beliefs of the people that inhabited the country before written records.
Tiffany Treadway, SHARE, Cardiff University
Defining a Tradition: British Iron Age Deposition
Study of prehistoric deposition is extensive. Holistic analyses of cross-regional trends for wetland deposition for the British Iron Age has not been attempted.
Instead, the same prestigious material is recycled in literary arguments. These unique pieces are continuously used to portray the ideal ‘Celtic’ persona in lieu of the fact that many of these objects have not been found in comparison elsewhere. Therefore, in efforts to apply a more cohesive interpretation of Iron Age deposition material and traditions, this study provides holistic analyses of sites and objects from wetland deposition contexts. The study collected 348 records from Scotland and 266 from Wales, making a total of 614 individual pieces from 109 sites. Material confirmed from England, settlement or production contexts was not included.
Wetland deposition practices permit for the study of tradition, communal identity and social values due to the high level of preservation through anaerobic conditions. Regional traditions were observed through depositional practices (i.e. multi- or single-period hoard, pairs, and singular deposits), material preference (i.e. metal, organic fibres, wood), common object types, and level of craftsmanship. Wetland deposition differs in the Iron Age from the proceeding and preceding periods as many of the pieces are whole and contain little damage outside of environmental factors.
Jennifer Beamer, University of Leicester
An Anthropological View of Iron Age Textile Technology
The view of technology has often been used to structure our understanding of society, usually reflecting archaeological thought at the time. Formerly, technology was used to denote cultural evolution stages; later, it helped give rise to chaîne opératoire studies. In anthropological studies during the 1980s, technology was understood in comprehensive terms: social, political, economical, and ideological. In archaeology, however, situating technology within a society is far more difficult owing to the incomplete record. Historically, scholars of prehistoric textile technology have utilized contemporary analogs to portray British Iron Age textile production when there were similarities in the archaeological record. Though some scholars have argued that there were inconsistencies with our developed knowledge of textile tools and their respective technologies, most continued refining the previously established narratives of textile production and its role in Iron Age society. Predicating our understanding of British Iron Age textile production on socio-temporally and historically disparate societies, and building the concept of a technological system on those analogs, creates fundamental problems in our interpretation.
The continued separation of stylistic and functional attributes of Iron Age textile tools prevents us from analysing the interrelationships between style and use and exacerbates the problem of situating textile production in Iron Age society. Technology is socially generated and therefore it must be understood in those relative terms. Exploring the utilitarian function of tools within the Iron Age textile tool assemblage gives rise to an analysis which reflects the artefacts from Britain in context; to wit, an anthropological view of technology within archaeology is required. Stitching together the stylistic and functional division can be performed through an integrated analysis of object biography, taphonomic history, materiality, chaîne opératoire, use-wear analysis, and experimental archaeology. A case study example from Danebury hillfort is presented which features an anthropological perspective of textile technology.
Iron Age Research Student Symposium 