Wealth, status, and occupation groups

Exploring the nature of status and the role of individuals in society is central to understanding social organization. This chapter critically examines current models of how wealth and status were expressed and maintained in Iron Age Europe, and considers evidence for the existence of occupation groups, classes, and specialists. Topics examined include links between status and display of wealth in votive deposition and richly adorned burials, the roles of feasting, conspicuous consumption, and monumentality, and how these may reflect hierarchical or heterarchical forms of social organization. The period saw increasing evidence for specialist roles in spheres such as craftworking, production, mining, and exchange, as well as in ritual and warfare. Some Iron Age communities, however, lacked obvious social specialism and the archaeological evidence points to small-scale modes of household production. Links between gender, age, status, and social roles are also explored.

The Pershore Hoards and Votive Deposition in the Iron Age

A large hoard of Iron Age coins was discovered by metal-detecting at Pershore, Worcestershire, in 1993. During small-scale archaeological excavation further Iron Age coins were recovered, including a likely second hoard. Further fieldwork in the same vicinity as the hoard(s) produced more Iron Age finds, including more coins, and a possible fragment of a twisted wire gold torc. In total 1494 Iron Age gold and silver coins were recovered. Geophysical survey indicated that the hoard(s) lay at the southern end of an extensive area of settlement which, based on the fieldwalking evidence, was mainly of Iron Age and Roman date. This covered an overall area ofc.10 ha, within which several areas of more intensive activity were defined, including enclosures and possible round-houses. It is suggested that the coin hoard(s) indicate the location of a Late Iron Age religious space in an elevated landscape position situated on the edge of a settlement which continued into the Roman period. As part of the archaeological strategy, specialist deep-search metal-detecting was undertaken in order to establish that the site has now been completely cleared of metalwork caches

Stages in the Chronological Development of Hoards and Votive Deposits

Some recent literature on the problem of hoards is reviewed, dealing particularly with the distinction between votive deposits and stores of objects. An alternative approach is developed, considering the long-term variations in the nature of intentional deposits in European prehistory. Three stages are suggested. In the initial stage, a unitary system of deposits prevailed, especially of food and selected artefacts, including metal when available. In the developed stage, characteristic of the Bronze Age, a dual system allowed both votive deposition and accumulation and recycling, especially of non-local metal. The final stage, in the later Iron Age, saw renewed emphasis on votive deposits, especially on the borders of emerging polities.