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British Iron Age

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The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great


Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of
the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, which
had an independent Iron Age culture of its own. [1] The parallel phase of Irish
archaeology is termed the Irish Iron Age.[2] The Iron Age is not an archaeological
horizon of common artefacts, but is rather a locally diverse cultural phase.
The British Iron Age lasted in theory from the first significant use of iron for tools and
weapons in Britain to the Romanisation of the southern half of the island. The
Romanised culture is termed Roman Britain 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 culture, but in recent years this 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 which
was widely spoken in Britain at this time (who, as well as others including
the Goidelic and Gaulish languages of neighbouring Ireland and Gaul, respectively,
certainly belong to the group known as Celtic languages). However, it cannot be
assumed that particular cultural features found in one Celtic-speaking culture can be
extrapolated to the others.[3]

Contents

 1Periodisation
 2Archaeological evidence
 3The people of Iron Age Britain
o 3.1Celtic movement from the continent
o 3.2Demography
o 3.3Ptolemy's Albion
 4Iron Age beliefs in Britain
 5Economy of Iron Age Britain
o 5.1Trade
 5.1.1Trade in the Early and Middle Iron Age
 5.1.2Trade in the Late Iron Age
 6End of the Iron Age in Britain
 7See also
 8Notes
 9Bibliography
 10Further reading
 11External links

Periodisation[edit]
At present over 100 large-scale excavations of Iron Age sites have taken place,
[4]
 dating from the 8th century BC to the 1st century AD, and overlapping into the
Bronze Age in the 8th century BC.[5] Hundreds of radiocarbon dates have been
acquired and have been calibrated on four different curves, the most precise being
based on tree ring sequences.
The following scheme summarises a comparative chart presented in a 2005 book
by Barry Cunliffe,[6] but British artefacts were much later in adopting Continental
styles such as the La Tène style of Celtic art:

Period Dates Continental parallels


Earliest Iron
800–600 BC Hallstatt C
Age

Early Iron Age 600–400 BC Hallstatt D and half of La Tène I

Middle Iron Age 400–100 BC The rest of La Tène I, all of II and half of III

Late Iron Age 100–50 BC The rest of La Tène III

Latest Iron Age 50 BC – AD 100 -

The end of the Iron Age extends into the very early Roman Empire under the theory
that Romanisation required some time to take effect. In parts of Britain that were
not Romanised, such as Scotland, the period is extended a little longer, say to the
5th century. The geographer closest to AD 100 is
perhaps Ptolemy. Pliny and Strabo are a bit older (and therefore a bit more
contemporary), but Ptolemy gives the most detail (and the least theory).

Archaeological evidence[edit]
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Maiden Castle, Dorset is one of the largest hill forts in Europe.[7][8] Photograph taken in 1935 by Major
George Allen (1891–1940).

Attempts to understand the human behaviour of the period have traditionally focused
on the geographic position of the islands and their landscape, along with the
channels of influence coming from continental Europe.
During the later Bronze Age there are indications of new ideas influencing land
use and settlement. Extensive field systems, now called Celtic fields, were being set
out and settlements were becoming more permanent and focused on better
exploitation of the land. The central organisation to undertake this had been present
since the Neolithic period but it was now targeted at economic and social goals, such
as taming the landscape rather than the building of large ceremonial structures
like Stonehenge. Long ditches, some many miles in length, were dug
with enclosures placed at their ends. These are thought to indicate
territorial borders 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 Britain's South and East. New
weapon types appeared with clear parallels to those on the continent such as
the Carp's tongue sword, complex examples of which are found all over Atlantic
Europe. Phoenician traders probably began visiting Great Britain in search
of minerals around this time, bringing 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.
Defensive structures dating from this time are often impressive, for example
the brochs of Northern Scotland and the hill forts that dotted the rest of the islands.
Some of the most well-known hill forts include Maiden Castle, Dorset, Cadbury
Castle, Somerset and Danebury, Hampshire. Hill forts first appeared in Wessex in
the Late Bronze Age, but only become common in the period between 550 and 400
BC. The earliest were of a simple univallate 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 these "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 only occupied
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 and Rispain Camp. 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 due to 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, these 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 this 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 comments that Vespasian captured
more than twenty "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. Some were also reused by later cultures, such as the Saxons, in
the early Medieval period.

The people of Iron Age Britain[edit]


Further information: Insular Celts, Iron Age tribes in Britain, and List of Celtic tribes
Celtic movement from the continent[edit]
The Roman historian Tacitus suggested that the Britons were descended from
people who had arrived from the continent, comparing the Caledonians (in modern-
day Scotland) to their Germanic neighbours; the Silures of
Southern Wales to Iberian settlers; and the inhabitants of
Southeast Britannia to Gaulish tribes.[9] This migrationist view long informed later
views of the origins of the British Iron Age and the making of the modern
nations. Linguistic evidence inferred from the surviving Celtic languages in Northern
and Western Great Britain at first appeared to support this idea, and the changes in
material culture which archaeologists observed during later prehistory were routinely
ascribed to a new wave of invaders.
From the early 20th century, this "invasionist" scenario was juxtaposed to
a diffusionist view. By the 1960s, this latter model seemed to have gained
mainstream support,[10] but, in turn, it came under attack in the 1970s.
There was certainly a large migration of people from Central Europe westwards
during the early Iron Age. The question whether these movements should be
described as "invasions", or 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 from the end of the 2nd century BC, as described in
Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. Such sudden events may be invisible in
the archaeological record. In this case, it depends on the interpretation of Aylesford-
Swarling pottery.[11] 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.[12] According to Julius Caesar, the Britons further inland than the
Belgae believed that they were indigenous.[13]
Demography[edit]
Population estimates vary but the number of people in Iron Age Great Britain could
have been three or four million by the first century BC, [citation needed][dubious  –  discuss] 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.[citation needed] These 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. [citation needed] This
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 this appears to have broken down into
differing sub-groups with their own pottery styles. [14] Between c. 400 and 100 BC
there is evidence of emerging regional identities and a significant population
increase.[15]
Ptolemy's Albion[edit]
Claudius Ptolemy described Britain at the beginning of Roman rule but incorporated
material from earlier sources.[16] Although the name "Pretanic Isles" had been known
since the voyage of Pytheas and "Britannia" was in use by Strabo and Pliny, Ptolemy
used the earlier "Albion", known to have been used as early as the Massaliote
Periplus.

Iron Age beliefs in Britain[edit]


Further information: Celtic polytheism
The Romans described a variety of deities worshipped by the people of
Northwestern Europe. Barry Cunliffe 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 worshipped at Bath. In Tacitus's Agricola (2.21), he notes the
similarity between both religious and ritual practices of the pre-Roman British and
the Gauls.[17]
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 on Anglesey and are interpreted as votive offerings cast
into a lake. Numerous weapons have also been recovered from rivers, especially
the Thames, but also the Trent 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, may have had a ritual aspect.
Caesar's texts tell us that the priests of Britain were Druids, 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, although a number of burials made with ritual trappings
and found in Kent 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 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 this view which may derive from Victorian and later Celtic romanticism. [citation
needed]
 Sites such as at Hayling Island in Hampshire and that found during construction
work at Heathrow airport 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 temple in the 1st century AD to the same plan.
The Heathrow temple was a small cella surrounded by a ring of postholes thought to
have formed an ambulatory which is very similar to Romano-Celtic temples found
elsewhere in Europe. A rectangular structure at Danebury 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.[18] However, evidence of an open-air
shrine was found at Hallaton, Leicestershire. Here, a collection of objects known as
the Hallaton Treasure were buried in a ditch in the early 1st century AD. The only
structural evidence was a wooden palisade built in the ditch. [19]
Death in Iron Age Great Britain seems to have produced different behaviours in
different regions. Cremation was a common method of disposing of the dead,
although the chariot burials and other inhumations of the Arras culture of East
Yorkshire, and the cist burials of Cornwall, demonstrate that it was not ubiquitous.
In Dorset the Durotriges seem to have had small inhumation cemeteries, sometimes
with high status grave goods.[20] In fact, the general dearth of excavated Iron Age
burials makes drawing conclusions difficult. Excarnation 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.

Economy of Iron Age Britain[edit]


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 slashing
swords and daggers were a significant import although, by the mid-6th century, the
volume of goods arriving seems to have declined, possibly due to more profitable
trade centres appearing in the Mediterranean. La Tène culture items (usually
associated with the Celts) appeared in later centuries and, again, these were
adopted and adapted with alacrity by the locals.
There also appears to have been a collapse in the bronze trade during the early Iron
Age, which can be viewed in three ways:

1. Steady transition: the development of iron parallel to a diminishing bronze


system.
2. Rapid abandonment; iron undermines bronze and takes over its social
function.
3. Bronze crisis: severe reduction in the supply of bronze 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, as well as
providing 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.
Whilst cattle and sheep dominate the osteo-archaeological record, 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. Whilst difficult to find archaeologically, some evidence does
exist. Salterns, in which sea water was boiled to produce salt, are prevalent in
the East Anglia 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. [21][22] Some, such
as gold staters, were imported from mainland Europe. Others, such as the cast
bronze (potin) 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 and Cunobelinos from Camulodunum identifying regional
differentiation. Hoards of Iron Age coins include the Silsden Hoard in West
Yorkshire found in 1998. A large collection of coins, known as the Hallaton Treasure,
was found at a Late Iron Age shrine near Hallaton, Leicestershire in 2000 and
consisted of 5,294 coins, mostly attributed to the Corieltavi tribe. These were buried
in 14 separate hoards over several decades in the early 1st century AD. [23]
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[edit]
Trade in the Early and Middle Iron Age[edit]
The Early Iron Age saw a substantial number of goods belonging to the Hallstatt
culture imported from the continent, and these came to have a major effect on
Middle Iron Age native art.
Trade in the Late Iron Age[edit]
From the late 2nd century BC onwards South-central Britain was indirectly linked into
Roman trading networks via Brittany and the Atlantic seaways to south-west Gaul.
[24]
 Hengistbury Head in Dorset was the most important trading site and large
quantities of Italian wine amphorae have been found there.[24] These Atlantic trade
networks were heavily disrupted following Julius Caesar's failed conquest of Brittany
in the 50s BC.[25] 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.[citation needed]
In Southeast Britain, meanwhile, extensive contact with the 'Belgic' tribes of northern
Gaul is evidenced by large numbers of imported Gallo-Belgic gold coins between the
mid-2nd century BC and Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the 50s BC.
[26]
 These coins probably did not principally move through trade. In the past, the
emigration of Belgic peoples to Southeast Britain has been cited as an explanation
for their appearance in that region. However, recent work suggests that their
presence in Southeast Britain may have occurred due to 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.
[27]

After Caesar's conquest of Gaul, a thriving trade developed between Southeast


Britain and the near Continent. This is archaeologically evidenced through imports of
wine and olive oil amphorae and mass-produced Gallo-Belgic pottery.[28] Strabo,
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, whilst he
recorded the island's exports as grain, cattle, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and
hunting dogs.[29] This trade probably thrived as a result of political links and client
kingship relationships that developed between groups in Southeast Britain and the
Roman world.[30]

End of the Iron Age in Britain[edit]


Main articles: Roman Britain and Romano-British culture
Historically speaking, the Iron Age in Southern Great Britain ended with the Roman
invasion. 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, Hampshire was constructed in the AD 60s–70s,
[31]
 whilst Agricola was still campaigning in Northern Britain (mostly in what is
now Scotland), and on top of an Iron Age ritual site. Rectilinear stone structures,
indicative of a change in housing to the Roman style are visible from the mid-to-late
1st century AD at Brixworth and Quinton.[32]
In areas where Roman rule was not strong or was 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 (Colchester),
and which derive from the native language, is evidence of this.

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