Resistance is Futile? Ceramic Technology and Social Change in Later Iron Age and Early Roman Britain: Silchester Ware as a Case Study

Britannia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 53-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Ceramic Technology ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Middle Iron Age

ABSTRACTWhile the basic sequence of innovations that characterise ceramic production in southern Britain during the first centuries b.c. and a.d. is well-established, our understanding of resistance to these innovations remains in its infancy. Led by the theoretical principles of social constructionism, this paper presents a detailed technological characterisation of Silchester ware, a hand-built ceramic type common in late Iron Age and early Roman Berkshire and northern Hampshire, and a conspicuous example of technological and stylistic anachronism when compared to contemporary wheel-made pottery. Multi-period analyses using radiography, petrography and typology indicate that Silchester ware was not merely a technological ‘hangover’, but a traditional form of material culture with its own role in changing socio-economic structures. Contextualisation of the findings within the local archaeological background further suggests that Silchester ware may have been instrumental in the maintenance of local community and identity at a time when these aspects of social life were under threat. Supplementary material available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000355) comprises a characterisation of the chaînes opératoires of Silchester ware and its middle Iron Age antecedents, and a summarised version of the data, interpretations and the original radiographs.

Iron Age and Roman Enclosed Settlement at Winchester Road, Basingstoke

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-97
Author(s):  
Richard Massey ◽  
Matt Nichol ◽  
Dana Challinor ◽  
Sharon Clough ◽  
Matilda Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Field Boundary ◽  
Crop Processing ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Middle Iron Age ◽  
Grave Goods

Excavation in Area 1 identified an enclosed settlement of Middle–Late Iron Age and Early Roman date, which included a roundhouse gully and deep storage pits with complex fills. A group of undated four-post structures, situated in the east of Area 1, appeared to represent a specialised area of storage or crop processing of probable Middle Iron Age date. A sequence of re-cutting and reorganisation of ditches and boundaries in the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period was followed, possibly after a considerable hiatus, by a phase of later Roman activity, Late Iron Age reorganisation appeared to be associated with the abandonment of a roundhouse, and a number of structured pit deposits may also relate to this period of change. Seven Late Iron Age cremation burials were associated with a contemporary boundary ditch which crossed Area 1. Two partly-exposed, L-shaped ditches may represent a later Roman phase of enclosed settlement and a slight shift in settlement focus. An isolated inhumation burial within the northern margins of Area 1 was tentatively dated by grave goods to the Early Saxon period.<br/> Area 2 contained a possible trackway and field boundary ditches, of which one was of confirmed Late Iron Age/Early Roman date. A short posthole alignment in Area 2 was undated, and may be an earlier prehistoric feature.

Middle and Late Iron Age Occupation at Cadnam Farm, Alton, Hampshire

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-136
Author(s):  
Oliver Good ◽  
Richard Massey
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
The South ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
South West ◽  
Middle Iron Age

Three individual areas, totalling 0.55ha, were excavated at the Cadnam Farm site, following evaluation. Area 1 contained a D-shaped enclosure of Middle Iron Age date, associated with the remains of a roundhouse, and a ditched drove-way. Other features included refuse pits, a four-post structure and a small post-built structure of circular plan. Area 2 contained the superimposed foundation gullies of two Middle Iron Age roundhouses, adjacent to a probable third example. Area 3 contained a small number of Middle Iron Age pits, together with undated, post-built structures of probable Middle Iron Age date, including a roundhouse and four and six-post structures. Two large boundary ditches extended from the south-west corner of Area 3, and were interpreted as the funnelled entrance of a drove-way. These contained both domestic and industrial refuse of the late Iron Age date in their fills.

Formation and Land-Use History of Celtic Fields in North-West Europe – an Interdisciplinary Case Study at Zeijen, the Netherlands

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Spek ◽  
Willy Groenman-van Waateringe ◽  
Maja Kooistra ◽  
Lideweij Bakker
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
North West ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
History Of

Celtic field research has so far been strongly focused on prospection and mapping. As a result of this there is a serious lack of knowledge of formation and land-use processes of these fields. This article describes a methodological case study in The Netherlands that may be applied to other European Celtic fields in the future. By interdisciplinary use of pedological, palynological and micromorphological research methods the authors were able to discern five development stages in the history of the field, dating from the late Bronze Age to the early Roman Period. There are strong indications that the earthen ridges, very typical for Celtic fields in the sandy landscapes of north-west Europe, were only formed in the later stages of Celtic field agriculture (late Iron Age and early Roman period). They were the result of a determined raising of the surface by large-scale transportation of soil material from the surroundings of the fields. Mainly the ridges were intensively cultivated and manured in the later stages of Celtic field cultivation. In the late Iron Age a remarkable shift in Celtic field agriculture took place from an extensive system with long fallow periods, a low level of manuring and extensive soil tillage to a more intensive system with shorter fallow periods, a more intensive soil tillage and a higher manuring intensity. There are also strong indications that rye (Secale cereale) was the main crop in the final stage of Celtic field agriculture.

New Media in the Late Iron Age

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Wells
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
Temperate Europe ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Middle Iron Age

This chapter analyzes coins and writing in late prehistoric Europe. The development of coinage in temperate Europe and the first regular signs of writing are innovations that share some important features. Both were introduced from outside the region, specifically from the Mediterranean world, toward the end of the Middle Iron Age. Although both had existed in the Mediterranean world for centuries before their introduction and adoption in temperate Europe, both appear in temperate Europe at about the same time, during the third century BC and more abundantly during the second and first centuries. They were both adopted at a particular time in Europe's developmental trajectory, and under specific economic and political circumstances.

scholarly journals Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria

Britannia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 83-116
Author(s):  
Hannah J. O'Regan ◽  
Keith Bland ◽  
Jane Evans ◽  
Matilda Holmes ◽  
Kirsty McLeod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
North West ◽  
Human Osteology ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
Late Roman Period

ABSTRACTThe scarcity of Romano-British human remains from north-west England has hindered understanding of burial practice in this region. Here, we report on the excavation of human and non-human animal remains1 and material culture from Dog Hole Cave, Haverbrack. Foetal and neonatal infants had been interred alongside a horse burial and puppies, lambs, calves and piglets in the very latest Iron Age to early Romano-British period, while the mid- to late Roman period is characterised by burials of older individuals with copper-alloy jewellery and beads. This material culture is more characteristic of urban sites, while isotope analysis indicates that the later individuals were largely from the local area. We discuss these results in terms of burial ritual in Cumbria and rural acculturation. Supplementary material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000136), and contains further information about the site and excavations, small finds, zooarchaeology, human osteology, site taphonomy, the palaeoenvironment, isotope methods and analysis, and finds listed in Benson and Bland 1963.

The Introduction of Roman Ceramic Styles and Techniques into Roman Britain: A Case Study from the King Harry Lane Cemetery, St. Albans, Hertfordshire

1988 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian C. Freestone ◽  
Val Rigby
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Surface Coating ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Firing Techniques

AbstractSpecialised ceramics from Gaul were imported into late Iron Age Britain, and their forms copied in native techniques. Roman technology was introduced after the Conquest, and involved changes in paste preparation, surface coating and firing techniques that allowed increases in the scale, standardisation and quality of the production.

Generations of aristocracy

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Woolf
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Roman Imperialism ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
The Social

AbstractThis paper sets out to examine issues of continuity and change in the social hierarchies of the peoples of the Gallic interior, between the late Iron Age and the early Roman period. This part of the empire is one in which we might reasonably expect to find substantial continuity of social structure. Many scholars have argued that this is indeed the case, notwithstanding the evident changes in material culture. This paper argues that the opposite was true. Apparent similarities, I suggest, reinforced by the ways we have studied provincial cultures, have masked dramatic changes in the basis of social power. That conclusion has implications for other provincial societies, and for Roman imperialism in general.

scholarly journals A Review of Pottery Cultures in Central Anatolia during the Middle Iron Age, taking Yassıhöyük (Kırşehir) as a Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurcan Küçükarslan
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Middle Iron Age ◽  
Painted Pottery

Middle Iron Age (MIA): 9th-8th c. BC in Central Anatolia.Yassıhöyük is a mound located 160 km southeast of Ankara (Turkey), 25 km north of Kırşehir and 30 km east of Kaman-Kalehöyük.Kaman-Kalehöyük is a mound located 100 km southeast of Ankara.Region 1 (Representative Site: Gordion)Gordion was the capital city of Phrygia, 100 km southwest of Ankara.Diagnostic pottery type: monochrome grey wares.Political Entity: PhrygiaRegion 2 (Representative Site: Boğazköy)Boğazköy is a slope settlement located 208 km northeast of Ankara and 82 km southwest of Çorum.Diagnostic pottery type: painted pottery with matt dark paint, Alisar IV ceramics.Political Entity: -Region 3 (Representative Site: Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük)Porsuk is a mound located 359 km southeast of Ankara and 55 km southwest of Niğde.Diagnostic pottery type: -Political Entity: Many kingdoms under Assyrian control (Tabal Region) (More info:http://www.tayproject.org)

Settlement and economy in a changing prehistoric lowland landscape: an East Yorkshire (UK) case study

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Halkon ◽  
Jim Innes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Northern Shore

This article assesses the major changes in landscape and coastline, which took place in an area adjacent to the northern shore of the inner estuary of the river Humber, in East Yorkshire, UK, from the beginning of the Holocene to the Iron Age. It considers the effect of these changes on material culture as represented by artefact distributions, including flint assemblages and polished stone tools located during field survey. The conclusions presented here derive from a continuing programme of research in this study area and they are placed in the context of the wider Humber region and the North Sea Basin. This article advocates a restoration of balance with regard to geographical determinism – a new pragmatism – accepting that environmental factors have a great importance in determining the nature and location of certain activities in the past, though cannot be used to explain them all.

Landscape, Memory and Material Culture: Interpreting Diversity in the Iron Age

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 361-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen L. Loney ◽  
Andrew W. Hoaen
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Lake District ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
Landscape Studies ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Holistic Integration

Landscape studies offer the archaeologist a way to move towards the holistic integration of disparate aspects of research, such as excavation, survey, and specialist analysis. Because landscape perception is socially constructed, like other forms of material culture, it is possible to approach social behaviour in a way which previously was only argued for portable artefacts. Memory studies have allowed historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists to link observable human behaviour with long-term human thought. Memory is also being used as a way of linking the otherwise invisible mind with the material by-products of society, such as monumental architecture. This paper will investigate how two contemporaneous settlements of Late Iron Age peoples, situated on the northern shores of Lake Ullswater, in the Lake District, Cumbria, manipulated their material landscapes as part of the process of transmitting cultural memories. Further, this information will be used in order to find a way of approaching the similarities of their cultural practices with each other and with the wider Iron Age community of Britain.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document