Technology at the transition: relationships between culture, style and function in the Late Iron Age determined through the analysis of artefacts (2024)

Material, Style and Identity in 1st century AD metalwork, with particular reference to the Seven Sisters Hoard

Rethinking Celtic Art (eds D.Garrow, C. Gosden & J.D. Hill)., 2008

'Fancy Objects' in the British Iron Age: Why Decorate?

2011

A survey and new perspectives of Celtic or La Tène art from Britain is presented. Following Spratling (2008:189), Celtic art is defined as ‘ornament or pattern and animal/human/supernatural images in metal and other media’. Regional and temporal variations in the type and usage of decorated artefacts are summarised. Three case studies, made of different media, are presented: metal scabbards, bone and antler weaving combs, and pottery. By asking the question ‘why decorate?’ it is argued that the decision to decorate an artefact can affect its life history, marking it out from undecorated artefacts of the same type. Rather than serving a single function, decoration was employed to serve multiple social goals throughout the Iron Age. Different forms of social expression, such as feasting, elaborate display, or weaving, are significant at any one time or place. It is argued that decorated artefacts often played a significant role in these different social arenas. Contrary to many past discussions, decorated artefacts in media other than metal are demonstrated to have been important in negotiations of social power and cosmology.

Innovation and Agency: To What Extent Did Cultural Appropriation Affect the Development of Jewellery in Britain During the 1 st to 2 nd Centuries AD

Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal , 2021

From the Late Iron Age (LIA) to the second century AD significant cultural and technological changes occurred within Britain, commonly associated with the new relationship formed with the Roman Empire. This paper examines the jewellery of Roman Britain in an attempt to track the changes which occurred after the Roman occupation began. This examination aims to allow us to understand the true nature of the developments and how they could have been influenced by cultural appropriation. This paper argues that the Roman occupation acted as a catalyst for change, promoting the development and innovation of techniques, styles, and designs which were already established in pre-Roman traditions. As evidence for this, the pre-existing technical and artistic interactions with places, such as Gaul and Ireland will be discussed with consideration given to the persistence and innovation of already established pre-Roman techniques. A discussion of internal trade and distribution patterns in use prior to the Roman occupation is incorporated. These existing trends will then be compared to the development patterns which emerge during the early period of Roman occupation.

Arts and Crafts in Iron Age East Yorkshire: A holistic approach to pattern and purpose, c. 400BC-AD100

BAR Publishing, 2021

This volume presents a new approach to decorative practices in Iron Age Britain and beyond. It aims to collapse the historic distinction between art and craft during the period 400BC-AD100 by examining the purposeful nature of decoration on varied Iron Age objects, not just those traditionally considered art. A case study from East Yorkshire (UK), a region well known for its elaborate Iron Age metalwork, is presented. This study takes a holistic approach to the finds from a sample of 30 sites, comparing pattern and plainness on objects of a wide range of materials. The analysis focuses on the factors that led makers to decorate certain objects in certain ways and the uses of different patterns in different social contexts. A concentrated study on evidence for use-wear, damage, repair and modification then draws on primary research and uses assemblage theory to better understand the uses and functions of decorated objects and the ways these developed over time.

At the Interface of Makers, Matter, and Material Culture. Techniques and Society in the Ceramics of the Southern British Later Iron Age

Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Reading, 2017

Changing pottery production methods are one of numerous significant developments in the archaeological record of Later Iron Age southern Britain. Previous studies of ceramic technology in this period (e.g. Rigby & Freestone 1997; Hill 2002) suffered from a lack of empirical data with which to characterise technological change, and only sparingly engaged with material culture theory. Our understanding of the social significance of changing technology has therefore remained largely obscured. Clay is a plastic medium upon which numerous traces of technological practices leave their mark. These practices yield valuable information pertaining to how people interacted with the material world in socially-constructed ways, and how this changed during periods of upheaval. On this basis, this study provides the first attempt to empirically characterise the nature of ceramic technological change in two studyregions: Berkshire and northern Hampshire; and Hertfordshire. Petrographic and SEM analyses were used to characterise technological properties of Middle and Late Iron Age ceramic fabrics from the two regions; and radiographic analysis of 428 vessels revealed details of forming methods employed. Elements of continuity are identified for the first time: for example, in patterns of clay preparation or the use of coil-building; as well as in the continued production of flint-tempered pottery in Hampshire. Novel technology was variably employed alongside this continuity: for example, in both regions the potter’s wheel was employed in at least two different ways - wheel-coiling, and throwing. Results point to a Middle Iron Age characterised by numerous localised systems of technical practice, from which emerged a Late Iron Age that saw technical knowledge flow more freely between groups of producers. This enriched technological background provided the means for the constitution of new forms of identity, and the reconfiguration of what it meant to be a craftsperson in a rapidly changing society.

Brit-art: Celtic Art in Roman Britain and on its Frontiers

In Celtic Art in Europe: Making Connections (eds) C. Gosden, S. Crawford & K. Ulmschneider, 315-324. Oxbow Books, Oxford., 2014

As is amply demonstrated in the Megaw’s extremely useful book Celtic Art, first published in 1989 and reprinted in 2001, designs recognisable as Iron Age or Celtic in character persist in Roman Britain, particularly in the north and the west where flourishing new regional art styles develop. Objects include horse-gear, as well as new varieties of other well-known Iron Age object types such as torcs. Recent surveys reveal that these objects are in fact more numerous than art made before the conquest (Gosden and Hill 2008, 2; Garrow et al. 2009). The influence of Rome can be seen especially in the use of enamels of multiple colours arranged in geometric patterns and brass, a Roman metal. However, although this paper is situated within a wider discourse of Romanisation, it is from the perspective not of how pre-Roman peoples became Roman but rather the role of art in the construction and renegotiation of identity. Building on recent research by Fraser Hunter (2006a; 2006b; 2008a; 2008b; 2010; 2012) and Mary Davis and Adam Gwilt (2008), which highlight regionality and diversity, it is argued that this art is not an historical fossil. Rather, through the making and wearing of these objects, people were actively working out how to live in the Roman world, or on its frontiers.

Arts and Crafts in Iron Age Britain: Reconsidering the Aesthetic Effects of Weaving Combs

Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33(3), 2014

Recent years have witnessed the formal acknowledgement of the privileged position from which decorative media in Iron Age Britain have traditionally been studied. Tension remains, however, between the study of the decorated metals that formed the basis for models of Celtic expansion, and decorated non-metals. Despite the general paucity of decoration in Iron Age Britain, decorated non-metals are still not viewed in the same light of social significance as metals. This paper will examine weaving combs from Glastonbury Lake Village, highly decorated objects of antler and bone. By concentrating on the fabrication and display of weaving combs, I aim to highlight the potential significance of the aesthetic effects of these objects.

Clay, Iron and Charcoal: An experimental investigation of the colour change and production of Romano- British Black Burnished Ware (SEDBB1). An Undergraduate Dissertation

Clay, Iron and Charcoal: This paper takes an experimental approach to the investigation of production of Romano-British pottery, specifically how atmospheric manipulation results in the distinct colour of ‘South East Dorset Black Burnished Ware' (SEDBB1). Black Burnished wear is found throughout Roman Britain with production centred on Poole Harbour, on the south coast of England. Its manufacture spans the late Iron Age and Roman within a landscape rich in industrial activity, including metalworking, shale working and salt production. Previous investigation has discovered kiln sites, established typologies and provided detail of how the vessels are formed. However little attention has been applied to how the deep black finish is produced, one of its defining attributes. It therefore represents an ideal fabric for exploring this transformation as well as the role of features, such as drying ovens, recorded during excavation of the production sites. Additionally, suggested connections between this industry and metalworking are explored. The work detailed in this paper aimed to explore the process through experimental and experiential firing of two kiln types and replica fabric. To better understand the role of the craft practitioner in the firing process as well as to offer a direct engagement with the materials and technical architecture used in the production of SEDBB1. Quantitative analysis revealed the role of iron reduction as the primary cause of the finished vessels colour, whilst experiential data recognises the closely resembling production sequences of SEDBB1 and iron smelting. This has significance in not only the organisation of industry around Poole Harbour, but additional spatial organisation within Roman Britain as a whole. In turn suggesting that past industrial activity should not be viewed in isolation, but as part of a landscape of integrated crafts.

Beyond Design and Style: Enhancing the Material Dimension of Artefacts Through Technological Complexity, in C. Suter (ed.), Levantine ivories of the Iron Age : New Perspectives. Workshop W1, 61th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale = Text and Image, Geneva and Bern, 22-26 June

Artefact studies in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain: a blast from the past?

Antiquity, 2012