British Iron Age
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The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, referring to the
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
and
protohistoric Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...
phases of the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding
prehistoric Ireland The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological evidence, which has grown at an increasing rate over the last decades. It begins with the first evidence of permanent human residence in Ireland around 10,500 BC (although ...
, which had an independent Iron Age culture of its own. The parallel phase of Irish archaeology is termed the
Irish Iron Age The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological evidence, which has grown at an increasing rate over the last decades. It begins with the first evidence of permanent human residence in Ireland around 10,500 BC (although ...
. The Iron Age is not an
archaeological horizon In archaeology, the general meaning of horizon is a distinctive type of sediment, artefact, style, or other cultural trait that is found across a large geographical area from a limited time period. The term derives from similar ones in geology, ...
of common artefacts but is rather a locally-diverse cultural phase. The British Iron Age followed the
British Bronze Age Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from until . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as t ...
and lasted in theory from the first significant use of
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
for tools and weapons in Britain to the
Romanisation Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
of the southern half of the island. The Romanised culture is termed
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
and is considered to supplant the British Iron Age. The tribes living in Britain during this time are often popularly considered to be part of a broadly-
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
culture, but in recent years, that has been disputed. At a minimum, "Celtic" is a linguistic term without an implication of a lasting cultural unity connecting Gaul with the British Isles throughout the Iron Age. The
Brittonic languages The Brittonic languages (also Brythonic or British Celtic; cy, ieithoedd Brythonaidd/Prydeinig; kw, yethow brythonek/predennek; br, yezhoù predenek) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the other is Goidelic ...
, which were widely spoken in Britain at this time (as well as others including the
Goidelic The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically ...
and
Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
languages of neighbouring Ireland and Gaul, respectively), certainly belong to the group known as
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
. However, it cannot be assumed that particular cultural features found in one Celtic-speaking culture can be extrapolated to the others.


Periodisation

At present over 100 large-scale excavations of Iron Age sites have taken place, dating from the 8th century BC to the 1st century AD and overlapping into the Bronze Age in the 8th century BC. Hundreds of radiocarbon dates have been acquired and have been calibrated on four different curves, the most precise being based on
tree ring Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...
sequences. The following scheme summarises a comparative chart presented in a 2005 book by
Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
, but British artefacts were much later in adopting Continental styles such as the
La Tène style Celtic art is associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and styli ...
of
Celtic art Celtic art is associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and styli ...
: The Iron Age has been further subdivided with the "Late Iron Age" in Britain showing developments of new types of pottery, possibly influenced by Roman or French cultures. The clearing of forests for cultivation of agricultural crops intensified and areas with heavier and damper soil were settled. Spelt (''Triticum spelta'') was planted in these areas like the Tees Lowlands and some parts of
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. The end of the Iron Age extends into the very early
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
under the theory that Romanisation required some time to take effect. In parts of Britain that were not
Romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
, such as
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, the period is extended a little longer, say to the 5th century. The geographer closest to AD 100 is perhaps
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
.
Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
and
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
are a bit older and therefore a bit more contemporary, but Ptolemy gives the most detail and the least theory.


Archaeological evidence

Attempts to understand the human behaviour of the period have traditionally focused on the geographic position of the islands and their
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
, along with the channels of influence coming from
Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
. During the later
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, there are indications of new ideas influencing
land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...
and
settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...
. Extensive
field systems The study of field systems (collections of fields) in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature. Field systems by region Czech Republ ...
, now called
Celtic fields Celtic field is an old name for traces of early (prehistoric) agricultural field systems found in North-West Europe, i.e. Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden, Poland and the Baltic states. The fields themselves ...
, were being set out, and settlements were becoming more permanent and focused on better exploitation of the land. The central organisation to undertake that had been present since the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period but became targeted at
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
and
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
goals, such as taming the landscape, rather than the building of large ceremonial structures like
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
. Long ditches, some many miles in length, were dug with
enclosures Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
placed at their ends. Those are thought to indicate territorial
borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
and a desire to increase control over wide areas. By the 8th century BC, there is increasing evidence of Great Britain becoming closely tied to Continental Europe, especially in Southern and Eastern Britain. New weapon types appeared with clear parallels to those on the Continent, such as the
Carp's tongue sword Bronze Age swords appeared from around the 17th century BC, in the Black Sea region and the Aegean, as a further development of the dagger. They were replaced by iron swords during the early part of the 1st millennium BC. From an early time th ...
, complex examples of which are found all over Atlantic Europe.
Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n traders probably began visiting Great Britain in search of
minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
around this time and brought with them goods from the Mediterranean. At the same time, Northern European artefact types reached Eastern Great Britain in large quantities from across the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. Defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive such as the
broch A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex Atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy. Origin ...
s of Northern
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and the
hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
s that dotted the rest of the islands. Some of the most well-known hill forts include
Maiden Castle, Dorset Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. The earliest archaeological evidence of human ac ...
;
Cadbury Castle, Somerset Cadbury Castle is a Bronze and Iron Age hillfort in the civil parish of South Cadbury in the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument and has been associated with King Arthur's legendary court at Camelot. The hillfort is formed ...
; and
Danebury Danebury is an Iron Age hill fort in Hampshire, England, about north-west of Winchester (). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. The site, covering , was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, a ...
,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. Hill forts first appeared in
Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...
in the Late Bronze Age but became common only in the period between 550 and 400 BC. The earliest were of a simple
univallate A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
form and often connected with earlier enclosures attached to the long ditch systems. Few hill forts have been substantially excavated in the modern era, Danebury being a notable exception, with 49% of its total surface area studied. However, it appears that the "forts" were also used for domestic purposes, with examples of food storage, industry and occupation being found within their earthworks. On the other hand, they may have been occupied only intermittently, as it is difficult to reconcile permanently-occupied hill forts with the lowland farmsteads and their roundhouses found during the 20th century, such as at
Little Woodbury Little Woodbury is the name of an Iron Age archaeological site in Britford parish, near Salisbury in the English county of Wiltshire. The site lies about south of the centre of Salisbury and north of Odstock village. It was partially excavated ...
and
Rispain Camp Rispain Camp is the remains of a fortified farmstead 1 mile west of Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is one of the major Iron Age archaeological sites in Scotland. The property is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Access ...
. Many hill forts are not in fact "forts" at all and demonstrate little or no evidence of occupation. The development of hill forts may have occurred from greater tensions that arose between the better-structured and more populous social groups. Alternatively, there are suggestions that in the latter phases of the Iron Age, the structures simply indicate a greater accumulation of wealth and a higher standard of living although any such shift is invisible in the archaeological record for the Middle Iron Age, when hill forts come into their own. In that regard, they may have served as wider centres used for markets and social contact. Either way, during the Roman occupation the evidence suggests that as defensive structures, they proved to be of little use against concerted Roman attack.
Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
comments that Vespasian captured more than 20 "towns" during a campaign in the West Country in 43 AD, and there is some evidence of violence from the hill forts of Hod Hill and Maiden Castle in Dorset from this period. Some hill forts continued as settlements for the newly-conquered
Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
. Some were also reused by later cultures, such as the
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
in the early
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
period. File:Snettisham HoardDSCF6580.jpg File:Helmet decoration.jpg File:Celtic Art p115.jpg File:British Museum - Snettisham Hoard - geograph.org.uk - 2395422.jpg File:Iron Age fob or dangler (FindID 662549).jpg File:Museum of ScotlandDSCF6292.jpg File:Ornamental Bronze Plaque, Celtic Horse-gear, Santon, Norfolk.jpg File:PageMuseum of Scotland scabbard.jpg File:Celtic Horned Helmet I-IIBC British-Museum.jpg File:Romano-Celtic mirror (Desborough).jpg File:Brit Mus 17sept 065-crop.jpg File:Celtic horse helmet - geograph.org.uk - 1341264.jpg File:Ipswich Hoard.jpg File:Sunbury hoard Northern probably Kent manfacture Design derived from Marseilles Greek coins with stylised head of Apollo and butting bull between 100BCE and 50BCE.jpg File:Brit Mus 17sept 061-crop.jpg File:Stirling HoardDSCF6398.jpg


People of Iron Age Britain


Celtic movement from Continent

The Roman historian
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
suggested that the
Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
were descended from people who had arrived from the Continent, and he compared the Caledonians (in modern-day
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
) to their Germanic neighbours, the Silures of Southern
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
to Iberian settlers and the inhabitants of Southeastern ''
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
'' to
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
ish tribes. That migrationist view long informed later views of the origins of the British Iron Age and the making of the modern nations.
Linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
evidence inferred from the surviving
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
in Northern and Western Great Britain at first appeared to support the idea, and the changes in material culture that
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
s observed during later
prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
were routinely ascribed to a new wave of invaders. From the early 20th century, the "invasionist" scenario was juxtaposed to a
diffusionist In cultural anthropology and cultural geography, cultural diffusion, as conceptualized by Leo Frobenius in his 1897/98 publication ''Der westafrikanische Kulturkreis'', is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technolog ...
view. By the 1960s, the latter model seemed to have gained mainstream support, but it in turn came under attack in the 1970s. There was certainly a large migration of people from
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
westwards during the early Iron Age. The question whether these movements should be described as "invasions", as "migrations" or as mostly "diffusion" is largely a semantic one. Examples of events that could be labelled "invasions" include the arrival in Southern Britain of the
Belgae The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Ju ...
from the end of the 2nd century BC, as described in Caesar's ''
Commentaries on the Gallic War ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (; en, Commentaries on the Gallic War, italic=yes), also ''Bellum Gallicum'' ( en, Gallic War, italic=yes), is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Ca ...
''. Such sudden events may be invisible in the archaeological record. In that case, it depends on the interpretation of
Aylesford-Swarling pottery Aylesford-Swarling pottery is part of a tradition of wheel-thrown pottery distributed around Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and named after two cemeteries in Kent dating to the 1st century BC. The tradition reached Britain with the so- ...
. Regardless of the "invasionist" vs. "diffusionist" debate, it is beyond dispute that exchanges with the Continent were a defining aspect of the British Iron Age. According to Caesar, the Britons further inland than the Belgae believed that they were
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
.


Demography

Population estimates vary but the number of people in Iron Age Great Britain could have been three or four million by the 1st century BC, with most concentrated densely in the agricultural lands of the South. Settlement density and a land shortage may have contributed to rising tensions during the period. The average life expectancy at birth would have been around 25, but at the age of five, it would have been around 30. Those figures would be slightly lower for women, and slightly higher for men throughout the Middle Iron Age in most areas, on account of the high mortality rate of young women during childbirth; however, the average age for the two sexes would be roughly equal for the Late Iron Age. That interpretation depends on the view that warfare and social strife increased in the Late Iron Age, which seems to be fairly well attested in the archaeological record for Southern Britain at least. Early in the Iron Age, the widespread Wessex pottery of Southern Britain, such as the type style from All Cannings Cross, may suggest a consolidated socio-economic group in the region. However, by 600 BC, that appears to have broken down into differing sub-groups with their own pottery styles. Between c. 400 and 100 BC, there is evidence of emerging regional identities and a significant population increase.


Ptolemy's Albion

Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
described Britain at the beginning of Roman rule but incorporated material from earlier sources. Although the name " Pretanic Isles" had been known since the voyage of
Pytheas Pytheas of Massalia (; Ancient Greek: Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης ''Pythéas ho Massaliōtēs''; Latin: ''Pytheas Massiliensis''; born 350 BC, 320–306 BC) was a Greeks, Greek List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, explor ...
, and "
Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
" was in use by
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
and
Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
, Ptolemy used the earlier "
Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
", which is known to have been used as early as the
Massaliote Periplus The Massaliote Periplus or Massiliote Periplus is a theoretical reconstruction of a sixth-century BC periplus, or sailing manual, proposed by Adolf Schulten.The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain (2001), Walke ...
. File:Iron Age Village, Llynnon Mill, Llanddeusant, Anglesey. - geograph.org.uk - 363941.jpg File:The Earth house - geograph.org.uk - 431910.jpg File:Story telling at Ancient Technology Centre, Cranborne - geograph.org.uk - 406677.jpg File:Bed and breakfast in the Iron Age - geograph.org.uk - 1474053.jpg File:Iron Age farmhouse, Butser - geograph.org.uk - 2925134.jpg File:Iron Age town 1.jpg File:Iron Age wall - geograph.org.uk - 414651.jpg File:Old Oswestry Hillfort (aerial).jpg,
Old Oswestry Old Oswestry () is a large early Iron Age hill fort in the Welsh Marches near Oswestry in north west Shropshire, England. The earthworks, which remain one of the best preserved hill forts in the UK, have been described as "The Stonehenge of the ...
hillfort


Iron Age beliefs in Britain

The Romans described a variety of deities worshipped by the people of Northwestern Europe.
Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
perceives a division between one group of gods relating to masculinity, the sky and individual tribes and a second group of goddesses relating to associations with fertility, the earth and a universality that transcended tribal differences. Wells and springs had female, divine links exemplified by the goddess
Sulis In the localised Celtic polytheism practised in Great Britain, Sulis was a deity worshiped at the thermal spring of Bath (now in Somerset). She was worshiped by the Romano-British as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tabl ...
worshipped at Bath. In
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
's ''
Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the mi ...
'' (2.21), he notes the similarity between both religious and ritual practices of the pre-Roman British and the
Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...
. Religious practices often involving the ritual slaughter of animals or the deposition of metalwork, especially war booty. Weapons and horse trappings have been found in the bog at
Llyn Cerrig Bach Llyn Cerrig Bach is a small lake located between Rhosneigr and Valley in the west of Anglesey, Wales. Whilst it is not one of the largest lakes on the island (around 1.8 acres), its claim to fame is the group of over 150 Iron Age metal objects ...
on
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
and are interpreted as
votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
s cast into a lake. Numerous weapons have also been recovered from rivers, especially the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
but also the
Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...
and Tyne. Some buried hoards of jewellery are interpreted as gifts to the earth gods. Disused grain storage pits and the ends of ditches have also produced what appear to be deliberately-placed deposits, including a preference for burials of horses, dogs and ravens. The bodies were often mutilated, and some human finds at the bottom of pits, such as those found at
Danebury Danebury is an Iron Age hill fort in Hampshire, England, about north-west of Winchester (). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. The site, covering , was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, a ...
, may have had a ritual aspect. Caesar's texts state that the priests of Britain were
Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
s, a religious elite with considerable holy and secular powers. Great Britain appears to have been the seat of the Druidic religion, and Tacitus's account of the later raid on Anglesey led by Suetonius Paulinus gives some indication of its nature. No archaeological evidence survives of Druidry, but a number of burials made with ritual trappings and found in
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
may suggest a religious character to the subjects. Overall, the traditional view is that religion was practiced in natural settings in the open air.
Gildas Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
br>mentions
"those diabolical idols of my country, which almost surpassed in number those of Egypt, and of which we still see some mouldering away within or without the deserted temples, with stiff and deformed features as was customary". However, several sites interpreted as Iron Age shrines seem to contradict that view, which may derive from Victorian and later Celtic romanticism. Sites such as at
Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...
, in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, and the one found during construction work at
Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
are interpreted as purpose-built shrines. The Hayling Island example was a circular wooden building set within a rectangular precinct and was rebuilt in stone as a
Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
temple in the 1st century AD to the same plan. The Heathrow temple was a small
cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...
surrounded by a ring of
posthole In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide; however, truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive, most ...
s thought to have formed an
ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...
, which is very similar to Romano-Celtic temples found elsewhere in Europe. A rectangular structure at
Danebury Danebury is an Iron Age hill fort in Hampshire, England, about north-west of Winchester (). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. The site, covering , was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type-site for hill forts, a ...
and a sequence of six-poster structures overlooking calf burials and culminating in a trench-founded rectangular structure at Cadbury Castle, Somerset, have been similarly interpreted. An example at Sigwells, overlooking Cadbury Castle, was associated with metalwork and whole and partial animal burials to its east. However, evidence of an open-air shrine was found at
Hallaton Hallaton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 523, which had increased to 594 at the 2011 census. History and description The village' ...
,
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
. Here, a collection of objects known as the
Hallaton Treasure The Hallaton Treasure, the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins, was discovered in 2000 near Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England, by volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group. The initial find was made by Ken Wallace on 19 N ...
were buried in a ditch in the early 1st century AD. The only structural evidence was a wooden
palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...
built in the ditch. Death in Iron Age Great Britain seems to have produced different behaviours in different regions.
Cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
was a common method of disposing of the dead, but the chariot burials and other
inhumation Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
s of the
Arras culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans t ...
of East Yorkshire and the
cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...
burials of Cornwall demonstrate that it was not ubiquitous. In
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, the
Durotriges The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe and the discovery of an Iron Age hoard in 2009 at Shalfl ...
seem to have had small inhumation cemeteries, sometimes with high status grave goods. In fact, the general dearth of excavated Iron Age burials makes drawing conclusions difficult.
Excarnation In archaeology and anthropology, the term excarnation (also known as defleshing) refers to the practice of removing the flesh and organs of the dead before burial. Excarnation may be achieved through natural means, such as leaving a dead body expo ...
has been suggested as a reason for the lack of burial evidence, with the remains of the dead being dispersed either naturally or through human agency. File:British Museum - Room 50 (20448901214).jpg File:5 Torcs from the Ipswich Hoard.jpg File:Brit Mus 17sept 048-crop.jpg File:Battersea Cauldron in the British Museum.jpg File:British Museum - Room 50 (21061587892).jpg File:La tene fittingDSCF6633.jpg File:Lough scabDSCF6639.jpg File:Meyrick Helmet feb 2011.JPG File:Witham Shield 2.jpg File:Brit Mus 17sept 059.jpg File:Sedgeford Torc terminal.jpg File:Iron Age fob (oblique) (FindID 599015).jpg File:ThingDSCF6599.jpg File:British Museum Battersea Shield.jpg File:Aylesford bucketDSCF6590.jpg File:Aylesford bucketDSCF6596.jpg


Economy of Iron Age Britain

Trade links developed in the Bronze Age and beforehand provided Great Britain with numerous examples of continental craftsmanship. Swords especially were imported, copied and often improved upon by the natives. Early in the period,
Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...
slashing swords and daggers were a significant import, but by the mid-6th century, the volume of goods arriving seems to have declined, possibly from more profitable trade centres appearing in the Mediterranean.
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defini ...
items (usually associated with the
Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
) appeared in later centuries, and again, they were adopted and adapted with alacrity by the locals. There also appears to have been a collapse in the
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
trade during the early Iron Age, which can be viewed in three ways: # Steady transition: the development of iron parallel to a diminishing bronze system. # Rapid abandonment; iron undermines bronze and takes over its social function. # Bronze crisis: severe reduction in the supply of
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
allows the iron to replace it. With regard to animal husbandry, cattle represented a significant investment in pre-Roman Britain, as they could be used as a source of portable wealth and to provide useful domestic by-products such as milk, cheese and leather. In the later Iron Age, an apparent shift is visible, revealing a change in dominance from cattle rearing to that of sheep. Economically, sheep are significantly less labour-intensive, requiring fewer people per animal. Cattle and sheep dominate the osteo-archaeological record, but evidence for pig, ox, dog and rarely chicken is widely represented. There is generally an absence from environmental remains of hunted game and wild species as well as fresh and sea water species, even in coastal communities. A key commodity of the Iron Age was salt, used for preservation and the supplementation of diet. Though difficult to find archaeologically, some evidence exists.
Salterns A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...
, in which sea water was boiled to produce salt, are prevalent in the
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
fenlands. Additionally, Morris notes that some salt trading networks spanned over 75 km. Representing an important political and economic medium, the vast number of Iron Age coins found in Great Britain are of great archaeological value. Some, such as
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
stater The stater (; grc, , , statḗr, weight) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe. History The stater, as a Greek silver curre ...
s, were imported from Continental Europe. Others, such as the cast bronze (
potin Potin (also known as billon) is a base metal silver-like alloy used in coins. It is typically a mixture of copper, tin and lead (in varying proportions) and it is debated whether any actual silver needs to be present. While the term ''billon'' is ...
) coins of Southeast England, are clearly influenced by Roman originals. The British tribal kings also adopted the continental habit of putting their names on the coins they had minted, with such examples as Tasciovanus from
Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
and Cunobelinos from
Camulodunum Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...
identifying regional differentiation. Hoards of Iron Age coins include the
Silsden Hoard {{No footnotes, date=February 2020 The Silsden Hoard is an assemblage containing 27 gold coins of late British Iron Age date and a Roman iron finger ring. Discovery The hoard was discovered in 1998 by Jeff Walbank using a metal detector in a fiel ...
in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
found in 1998. A large collection of coins, known as the
Hallaton Treasure The Hallaton Treasure, the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins, was discovered in 2000 near Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England, by volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group. The initial find was made by Ken Wallace on 19 N ...
, was found at a Late Iron Age shrine near
Hallaton Hallaton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 523, which had increased to 594 at the 2011 census. History and description The village' ...
,
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, in 2000 and consisted of 5,294 coins, mostly attributed to the
Corieltavi The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...
tribe. These were buried in 14 separate hoards over several decades in the early 1st century AD. The expansion of the economy throughout the period, but especially in the later Iron Age, is in large part a reflection of key changes in the expression of social and economic status.


Trade


Early and Middle Iron Age

The Early Iron Age saw a substantial number of goods belonging to the
Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European Archaeological culture, culture of Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe ...
imported from the continent, and they came to have a major effect on Middle Iron Age native art.


Late Iron Age

From the late 2nd century BC onwards, South-Central Britain was indirectly linked into Roman trading networks via
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and the Atlantic seaways to south-western
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
.; ; ; .
Hengistbury Head Hengistbury Head (), formerly also called Christchurch Head, is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology ...
in
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
was the most important trading site, and large quantities of Italian wine
amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...
e have been found there. These Atlantic trade networks were heavily disrupted following
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
's failed conquest of Brittany in the 50s BC. This fact may support a supposition that the Celts of Britain had an economic interest in supporting their Gallic brethren in their resistance to Roman occupation. In South-eastern Britain, meanwhile, extensive contact with the '
Belgic Belgic may refer to: * an adjective referring to the Belgae, an ancient confederation of tribes * a rarer adjective referring to the Low Countries or to Belgium * , several ships with the name * Belgic ware Aylesford-Swarling pottery is part of a ...
' tribes of northern Gaul is evidenced by large numbers of imported Gallo-Belgic gold
coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
between the mid-2nd century BC and Caesar's
conquest of Gaul The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...
in the 50s BC. Those
coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...
probably did not principally move through trade. In the past, the emigration of Belgic peoples to South-Eastern Britain has been cited as an explanation for their appearance in that region. However, recent work suggests that their presence there may have occurred from a kind of political and social patronage that was paid by the northern Gaulish groups in exchange for obtaining aid from their British counterparts in their warfare with the Romans on the Continent. After Caesar's conquest of Gaul, a thriving trade developed between South-Eastern Britain and the near Continent. That is archaeologically evidenced by imports of wine and olive oil amphorae and mass-produced Gallo-Belgic
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
.
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
, writing in the early 1st century AD, lists ivory chains and necklaces, amber gems, glass vessels and other petty wares as articles imported to Britain, and he recorded the island's exports as grain, cattle, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and hunting dogs. That trade probably thrived as a result of political links and client kingship relationships that developed between groups in South-Eastern Britain and the Roman world. File:MirrorDSCF6602.jpg File:La tene fittingsDSCF6634.jpg File:La Tene broochDSCF6635.jpg File:TerminDSCF6577.jpg File:Part of the Farmborough Hoard.JPG File:Britishmuseumbitriseyorkshire.jpg File:Cookham dagger and scabbardDSCF6636.jpg File:British Museum - Room 50 (20448962834).jpg


End of Iron Age in Britain

Historically speaking, the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
in Southern Great Britain ended with the
Roman invasion The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Stane ...
. Although the assimilation of Briton culture was far from instantaneous, some relatively-quick change is evident archaeologically. For example, the Romano-Celtic shrine in
Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...
,
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
was constructed in the AD 60 to 70s, and
Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the mi ...
was then still campaigning in Northern Britain (mostly in what is now
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
), and on top of an
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
ritual site. Rectilinear stone structures, indicative of a change in housing to the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
style are visible from the mid-to-late 1st century AD at
Brixworth Brixworth is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 5,162, increasing to 5,228 at the 2011 census. The village's All Saints' Church is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Loca ...
and Quinton.De la Bedoyere, G., 1991, ''Buildings of Roman Britain'', Tempus: Stroud In areas where Roman rule was not strong or non-existent, Iron Age beliefs and practices remained but not without at least marginal levels of Roman or Romano-British influence. The survival of place names, such as ''
Camulodunum Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...
'' (
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
), which derive from the native language, is evidence of that.


See also

* Butser Ancient Farm, an archaeological open-air museum in southern England featuring many Iron Age roundhouses *
Iron Age tribes in Britain The names of the Celts, Celtic Iron Age tribes in Britain were recorded by Roman Empire, Roman and Ancient Greece, Greek historians and geographers, especially Ptolemy. Information from the distribution of Celtic coinage, Celtic coins has also shed ...
*
List of hillforts in England See also * List of hill forts in Scotland * List of hill forts in Wales *Iron Age, British Iron Age, prehistory References ;Bibliography * Further reading * * * External links * A crowd-sourced project to map the hillforts of Britain and ...
, a widespread and well-known Iron Age settlement type, many of which are still visible today *
Celtic coinage Celtic coinage was minted by the Celts from the late 4th century BC to the mid 1st century AD. Celtic coins were influenced by trade with and the supply of mercenaries to the Greeks, and initially copied Greek designs, especially Macedonian coi ...
*
Massaliote Periplus The Massaliote Periplus or Massiliote Periplus is a theoretical reconstruction of a sixth-century BC periplus, or sailing manual, proposed by Adolf Schulten.The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain (2001), Walke ...
*
Pytheas Pytheas of Massalia (; Ancient Greek: Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης ''Pythéas ho Massaliōtēs''; Latin: ''Pytheas Massiliensis''; born 350 BC, 320–306 BC) was a Greeks, Greek List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, explor ...
*
Eston Nab Eston Nab is a local landmark to those who live along the River Tees, in north-east England. A nab is a rocky promontory, or outcrop, and Eston Nab, marking the highest point – at – on the escarpment which forms Eston Hills, appears as a ...
, evidence of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements *'' Living in the Past'', a 1978 BBC TV project which attempted to re-create life in an English Iron Age village *
Arras culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans t ...


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * *
Downloadable Internet Archive


Further reading

*Collis, J.R., 2003, ''The Celts, origins, myths, inventions'' Stroud: Tempus *Haselgrove, C., 2001, Iron Age Britain in its European Setting, in Collis, J.R. (ed) ''Settlement and Society in Iron Age Europe'', Sheffield: Sheffield Archaeological Monograph 11, pp37–73 *Haselgrove, C. and Moore, T., 2007, ''The later Iron Age in Britain and beyond'', Oxford: Oxbow *Pryor, F., 2003, ''Britain, BC; life in Britain and Ireland before the Romans'', London: Harper Collins, chapters 11-12 *Hill, J.D., 1995, ''Ritual and Rubbish in the Iron Age of Wessex'' BAR British Series 242


External links

* * {{Authority control Iron Age