The Concept of Religion in Current Studies of Scandinavian Pre-Christian Religion

In recent Swedish studies of Scandinavian pre-Christian religion of the late Iron Age, various scholars have questioned the utility of the concept of religion in this field. According to these scholars, the concept of religion obscures the specific character of religions of the small-scale non-literate societies of the pre-Christian Age. In the article, I critically examine suggestions that we abandon the academic concept of religion and replace it with an emic concept, or a concept derived from an emic context. I further argue that this strategy implies an inappropriate dualistic opposition between Scandinavian pre-Christian religion and so-called world religions. I conclude with a critical evaluation of problematic formulations of religious change and variation, presented by the same scholars who criticize the use of the academic category of religion. I try to draw attention to certain problematic implications of these demands. I conclude that we should continue to employ the concept of religion in connection with the religious worlds of pre-Christian societies. The strategy proposed by these scholars may turn out to be merely one more way of imposing misconceptions on this period.

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The Pershore Hoards and Votive Deposition in the Iron Age

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/ppr.2013.13 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 79 ◽

pp. 297-325 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Derek Hurst ◽

Ian Leins

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Roman Period ◽

Geophysical Survey ◽

Landscape Position ◽

Small Scale ◽

Archaeological Excavation ◽

Extensive Area ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Votive Deposition ◽

Twisted Wire

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

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Processes of Religious Change in Late Iron Age Gotland

Place and Space in the Medieval World ◽

10.4324/9781315413655-4 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 32-46

Author(s):

Luke John Murphy

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Religious Change ◽

Late Iron Age

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Forging the trowel, hammering the Dacians: Marxism and Late Iron Age Archaeology in Romania (1948–1989)

Acta Musei Napocensis ◽

10.54145/actamn.i.57.02 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 ◽

pp. 23-62

Author(s):

Alin Henț ◽

Keyword(s):

Social History ◽

Iron Age ◽

Critical Evaluation ◽

Communist Regime ◽

Cultural Changes ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

The Social ◽

History Of ◽

Political Economic ◽

Key Events

The aim of this paper is to make a critical evaluation of the Romanian historiography from 1948–1989 which had as a subject of study the social history of the northern Balkan communities in the Late Iron Age period. The two years that I have chosen have both a symbolical and a chronological value. The year 1948 marks the beginning of an extensive and radical process of political, economic, social, and cultural changes, while the year 1989 symbolizes the fall of the Romanian “communist” regime. I propose a contextual analysis, which takes into account the evolution of the “communist” regime, as well as some key events that shaped the discourse. Through this evaluation, I want to intervene in the symbolic struggles that had as a final stake the Late Iron Age archaeology from Romania. Without claiming an objective analysis, I want to offer an alternative to the distorted portrayals which had existed so far. Although labelled as a “Communist” or “Marxist” historiography, it never strayed too far from the nationalist ideology, creating massive distortions along its way. In almost 50 years, the Romanian Late Iron Age historiography has gone from a formal and superficial application of Marxist theories, to a relative liberalization, and finally returned to an almost right‑wing discourse over the Dacian past. Moreover, I will show, in contrast to the classical post‑Communist view that the Late Iron Age archaeology in Romania was in touch, at least at some point, to the contemporary historiographical debates.

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Excavations at Copse Farm, Oving, West Sussex

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00007106 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

pp. 215-245 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Owen Bedwin ◽

Robin Holgate ◽

P. L. Drewett ◽

C. R. Cartwright ◽

S. D. Hamilton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Coastal Plain ◽

The Other ◽

Ceramic Production ◽

Small Scale ◽

Agricultural Economy ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

First Millennium ◽

Small Scale Industries ◽

Insight Into

Two farmsteads, one of late Iron Age (second-first centuries BC) date and the other dating to the early Romano-British period (first-second centuries AD), were excavated at Copse Farm, Oving. The site is situated within the Chichester dykes on the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Plain. The Iron Age farmstead produced pottery spanning ‘saucepan’ and ‘Aylesford-Swarling’ traditions, a transition in ceramic production which is poorly understood in Sussex. Information on the agricultural economy and small-scale industries (principally metalworking) practised at this site give an insight into the way the Coastal Plain was settled and exploited at the end of the first millennium BC.

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An integrated geoarchaeological approach to late Iron Age settlement at Haštelina hillfort (Lopar, Island of Rab, Croatia) using Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method and trial excavation

10.31338/uw.2083-537x.pam29.2.19 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 447-468

Author(s):

Paula Androić Gračanin ◽

Fabian Welc ◽

Ana Konestra ◽

Bartosz Nowacki

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Small Scale ◽

Building Structures ◽

Archaeological Excavation ◽

Data Comparison ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Amplitude Data ◽

Ground Penetrating ◽

Geophysical Prospection

Geophysical prospection and small-scale archaeological excavation were undertaken on the site of Kaštelina, Late Iron Age hillfort settlement located on a small coastal promontory of Stolac in the east part of the Rab island (Kvarner gulf, Croatia). Carried out by a Polish – Croatian team within the “Archaeological topography of the island of Rab” programme, the aim of this research was to obtain preliminary information relevant to determining the periods of occupation, degree of preservation, nature of the selected site features and potential of this site for further investigation. Multidisciplinary methods of research included ground penetrating radar and magnetometer together with the implementation using Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method which resulted in detecting remains of Late Iron Age building structures distributed over the northwest side of the Stolac promontory. Archaeological excavations that followed the geophysical survey resulted in unearthing remains of a dwelling together with its associated outdoor facilities. Benefits of multidisciplinary approach on the site of Kaštelina will be preliminary presented, stressing out the importance of gathered data for the general understanding of Late Iron Age settlements and their internal organisation in a wider context.

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Early Ironworking and its Impact on the Environment: Palaeoecological Evidence from Bryn y Castell Hillfort, Snowdonia, North Wales

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00002437 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 63 ◽

pp. 199-219 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

T.M. Mighall ◽

F.M. Chambers

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Human Disturbance ◽

Small Scale ◽

Industrial Site ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Pollen Data ◽

Industrial Archaeology ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Peat Deposits ◽

North Wales

The environmental impact of the Late Iron Age and Romano-British ironworking hillfort of Bryn y Castell in upland southern Snowdonia was investigated by multiple profile pollen and charcoal analysis of nearby valley mire and blanket peat deposits. Pollen data, collected from five radiocarbon dated profiles within a 1.5 km radius of the hillfort, indicate that ironworking activities apparently had only localised impact on the environment. Small-scale declines in certain arboreal taxa can be correlated with occupancy of the site. Betula and Alnus appear to be most affected, with minor loss of Corylus and Quercus. The pattern of arboreal taxa and charcoal values during the ironworking period is considered in the context of evidence for deliberate woodland management, the scale and duration of ironworking, and alternative forms of human disturbance. Overall, the results of the pollen analysis suggest that woodland recovered to its pre-ironworking level except in the immediate vicinity of the hillfort. Integration of the archaeological and palaeoecological data allowed understanding of the resource-based aspects of this prehistoric industrial site and the results have wider implications for the field of experimental industrial archaeology.

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Iron Age and Roman Enclosed Settlement at Winchester Road, Basingstoke

Hampshire Studies ◽

10.24202/hs2019003 ◽

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.

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

Hampshire Studies ◽

10.24202/hs2018004 ◽

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.

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