scholarly journals Iron Age Mnemonics: A Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Lindsey Büster
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Domestic Architecture ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Biographical Approach ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Successive Generations

Domestic architecture played a central role in the identity of later prehistoric communities, particularly in creating lasting bonds between the living and the dead. Acting as a conduit of memory and legacy for successive generations of inhabitants, roundhouses straddled the divide between house and memorial. The exceptionally well preserved Late Iron Age settlement at Broxmouth in southeast Scotland demonstrates the potential of biographical approaches in understanding the central role that roundhouses played in fashioning the identity of successive households, and the role of objects in constructing genealogical narratives.

Iron and iron technology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Champion
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Cold Working ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Domestic Architecture ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Iron Technology

Iron production began in many parts of Europe during the late Bronze Age. Although initially comparatively rare, production steadily increased in volume and quality, and major centres developed in southern France, Bavaria, Austria, and southern Poland; the discovery of standardized ingots shows the distribution of smelted iron. Blacksmithing techniques improved rapidly, and the processes of cold working, quenching, and annealing were mastered. The transition from bronze to iron for tools and weapons varied regionally, and the role of iron varied from a utilitarian material for tools to an exotic inlay for decoration. By the late Iron Age a full range of tools had been developed, which changed little for many centuries. These harder, sharper, and more durable tools had a major impact on the productive capacity of other industries, including agriculture, but especially woodworking and carpentry. The use of iron nails transformed domestic architecture, the construction of fortifications, and shipbuilding.

scholarly journals Dealing with the Outside

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 376-393
Author(s):  
Leticia López-Mondéjar
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
The South ◽  
Late Iron Age

The aim of this paper is to analyse some strategies of power, social control and legitimation during the Iberian Late Iron Age (6th–1st centuries BC). It addresses how the Iberian elites exploited the domain of the ‘outside’ to legitimise and to retain their status. A diachronic approach is presented seeking to analyse the role of the outside realm throughout all the examined period and the variety of its expressions within the Iberian societies. In particular, the paper focuses on the south-east of Spain, an area with a rich archaeological record which, however, have never been approached from this view.

Cemeteries and Funerary Practice

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Weekes
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Process Method

This chapter applies and attempts to contribute to the funerary process method of investigating late Iron Age and Roman period mortuary ritual in Britain. In this approach, evidence derived from archaeological contexts including tombstones and monuments, possible cemetery surfaces, cemetery boundaries, burials, pyre sites, and other features is reconsidered diachronically in relation to funerary schema. We therefore try to consider objects and actions in their correct funerary contexts, from the selectivity of death itself, through laying-out procedures, modification of the remains and other objects, degrees of spatial separation of the living and the dead, and types of deposition and commemorative acts. The development of tradition and diversity in funerary practice in Roman Britain is considered throughout, and the chapter concludes with a brief reconsideration of the multi-vocality of funerary symbolism.

A dental microwear study of pig diet and management in Iron Age, Romano-British, Anglo-Scandinavian, and medieval contexts in England

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Wilkie ◽  
Ingrid Mainland
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Dental Microwear ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Soft Diet ◽  
Microwear Analysis ◽  
Domestic Livestock ◽  
Animal Diet ◽  
The Impact

Insight into the diet of domestic animals in the archaeological record can elucidate diverse activities pertaining to ancient agricultural systems, including the utilization of the landscape by livestock and their herders (Bocherens et al. 2001; Bentley et al. 2003; Charles & Bogaard 2005), the impact of livestock farming on the environment (Amorosi et al. 1998; Witt et al. 2000; Mainland 2001), seasonality in husbandry practices (Akeret et al. 1999; Akeret & Rentzel 2001; Charles & Bogaard 2005), animal productivity (Amorosi et al. 1998) and the role of animals in society (Moens & Wetterstom 1988; Mainland & Halstead 2004). Research into the diet of domestic livestock has, however, largely focused on cattle, sheep, and goats (see for example all the references cited above) and it is only relatively recently that palaeodietary studies have begun to consider suid diet/nutrition and its potential value for elucidating the socio-economics of pig husbandry (e.g. Ervynck et al. this volume). This article presents one further such study: an analysis of dental microwear patterning in domestic pigs from selected Late Iron Age to medieval contexts in England, undertaken as part of a wider project into the potential application of dental microwear analysis to the question of pig diet and management in the prehistoric and historic past (Mainland et al. in prep.). Dental microwear analysis, although still primarily used within palaeontology (Teaford 1994; Rose & Ungar 1998), is increasingly being applied in archaeology to reconstruct both human (Rose & Ungar 1998; Schmidt 2001) and animal diet (Beuls et al. 2000; Mainland & Halstead 2004). In common with many other palaeodietary techniques (e.g. Schwarcz & Schoeninger 1991), dental microwear will not identify the consumption of individual foodstuffs but rather reflects broad functional and/or dietary adaptations (Rose & Ungar 1998); for example, browsing vs grazing (Solounias & Hayek 1993), folivory vs frugivory (Teaford & Walker 1984), hard vs soft diet (Teaford & Oyen 1989). Preliminary studies in modern suid populations have indicated that one basic axis of variation in pig diet/management is potentially identifiable using dental microwear, namely the separation of indoor-reared/stall-fed and outdoor reared/rooting populations (Ward & Mainland 1999).

Archaeological Footprints of the “Celtic Calendar”?

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco V. García Quintela ◽  
A. César Gonzalez-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
The People ◽  
Shared Time ◽  
Key Aspects

Despite their elusiveness, the people referred to as “Celts” by ancient chroniclers left behind certain archaeological remains that may be interepreted from the perspective of archaeoastronomy in an attempt to discover a calendrical “root” for them. In recent years, a number of studies on Late Iron Age sites, Roman or romanised locations and Christian landscapes in Hispania and in Gaul raised the possibility of detecting physical evidence of the celestial concepts that some classical authors attributed to the Celtic mystics, the Druids. However, these studies dealt with certain key aspects of how the Celts organised time that are not generally known and which tend to be presented in a summary way. Here, we explore aspects such as the difficulty of referring to a "Celtic calendar" per se, the sources for our study, the difficulties of adjusting the cycles of the Sun and Moon, the role of the “horizon calendars” and how these aspects may have played a role in actions that left a physical footprint that can still be seen today at several archaeological sites. We show that, although there may be common aspects that connect all Celtic sites and areas, there was no common calendar as such, although there are solid indications of the usage of a shared time-reckoning system.

scholarly journals Oppida, Agglomerations, and Suburbia: the Bibracte Environs and New Perspectives on Late Iron Age Urbanism in Central-Eastern France

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Moore ◽  
Arno Braun ◽  
John Creighton ◽  
Laura Cripps ◽  
Peter Haupt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
La Tène ◽  
Central Eastern ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
La Tene

This paper explores the nature and chronology of La Tène and early Roman unenclosed agglomerations in central-eastern France. It has been prompted by the discovery of a c. 115 ha La Tène D2b/Augustan (c. 50 BC to AD 15) site close to Bibracte in the Morvan, located around the source of the River Yonne. This complex provides a new perspective on the chronology and role of Late La Tène and early Roman unenclosed settlements, adding further complexity to the story of the development of Late La Tène oppida. It indicates that these ‘agglomerations’ followed remarkably varied chronological trajectories, raising important issues concerning the nature of landscape and social change at the end of the Iron Age.

Memories of the Past in Roman Britain

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zena Kamash
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Memory Process ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

After setting out the history of memory studies and the role of archaeology in these studies, this chapter examines three realms of memory in Roman Britain: the burial of memories; the reorganization of landscapes and memories; and the building of religious memory. First, I explore how burying people and objects can be part of the memory process, focusing on embodied actions and the use of legendary topographies in the landscape. I then examine how different memory communities responded to major periods of landscape reorganization, linking this to wider discussions about the creation and maintenance of identity in Roman Britain. Finally, I explore the Romano-Celtic temple phenomenon. I argue that the construction of temples was linked to the kinds of memory-making that are particularly prevalent in times of social instability, a phenomenon seen as part of a broader set of processes that began in the late Iron Age.

scholarly journals Towards a Combined Use of Geophysics and Remote Sensing Techniques for the Characterization of a Singular Building: “El Torreón” (the Tower) at Ulaca Oppidum (Solosancho, Ávila, Spain)

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2934
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Maté-González ◽  
Cristina Sáez Blázquez ◽  
Pedro Carrasco García ◽  
Jesús Rodríguez-Hernández ◽  
Jesús Fernández Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Large Building

This research focuses on the study of the ruins of a large building known as “El Torreón” (the Tower), belonging to the Ulaca oppidum (Solosancho, Province of Ávila, Spain). Different remote sensing and geophysical approaches have been used to fulfil this objective, providing a better understanding of the building’s functionality in this town, which belongs to the Late Iron Age (ca. 300–50 BCE). In this sense, the outer limits of the ruins have been identified using photogrammetry and convergent drone flights. An additional drone flight was conducted in the surrounding area to find additional data that could be used for more global interpretations. Magnetometry was used to analyze the underground bedrock structure and ground penetrating radar (GPR) was employed to evaluate the internal layout of the ruins. The combination of these digital methodologies (surface and underground) has provided a new perspective for the improved interpretation of “El Torreón” and its characteristics. Research of this type presents additional guidelines for better understanding of the role of this structure with regards to other buildings in the Ulaca oppidum. The results of these studies will additionally allow archaeologists to better plan future interventions while presenting new data that can be used for the interpretation of this archaeological complex on a larger scale.

scholarly journals THE EXCAVATION OF NON BAN JAK, NORTHEAST THAILAND - A REPORT ON THE FIRST THREE SEASONS

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F.W. Higham ◽  
Judith Cameron ◽  
Nigel Chang ◽  
Cristina Castillo ◽  
Sian Halcrow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Formation ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Northeast Thailand ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Ceramic Manufacture ◽  
Uncovered Part

<p class="1Abstract"><span lang="EN-US">Non Ban Jak is a large, moated site located in the upper Mun Valley, Northeast Thailand. Excavations over three seasons in 2011-4 have revealed a sequence of occupation that covers the final stage of the local Iron Age. The site is enclosed by two broad moats and banks, and comprises an eastern and a western mound separated by a lower intervening area. The first season opened an 8 by 8 m square on the eastern mound, while the second and third seasons uncovered part of the low terrain rising into the western mound, encompassing an area of 25 by 10 m. The former revealed a sequence of industrial, residential and mortuary activity that involved the construction of houses, kiln firing of ceramic vessels and the interment of the dead within residences. The latter involved four phases of a late Iron Age cemetery, which again incorporated house floors and wall foundations, as well as further evidence for ceramic manufacture. The excavation sheds light on a late Iron Age town occupied at the threshold of state formation.</span></p>

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