A2 Archaeology AQA

The Iron Age

Material Culture, Technology and Economics

The Iron Age ► The European Iron Age (~ BC) is what archaeologists have called that period of time in Europe when the development of complex urban societies was spurred by intensive manufacturing of bronze and iron, and extensive trading in and out of the Mediterranean basin ► At the time, Greece was flourishing, and the Greeks saw an explicit division between the cultured peoples of the Mediterranean, as compared to the barbaric northerners of central, western and northern Europe

The Iron Age ► Some scholars have argued that it was Mediterranean demand for exotic goods--salt, furs, amber, gold, slaves, foodstuffs, eventually iron weaponry--that drove the interaction, and led to the growth of an elite class in the hillforts of central Europe ► Hillforts--fortified settlements located on the tops of hills above Europe's major rivers--became numerous during the early Iron Age, and many of them do show the presence of Mediterranean goods

The Iron Age ► European Iron Age dates are traditionally set between the approximate period when iron became the principal tool-making material and the Roman conquests of the last century BC ► Iron production was first established during the Late Bronze Age, but did not become widespread in central Europe until 800 BC, and in northern Europe by 600 BC

Chronology of the Iron Age BC (Early Iron Age--Hallstatt in central Europe) ► The early part of the Iron Age is called the Hallstatt culture, and it was during this time in central Europe that elite chiefs rose in power, perhaps as a direct result of their connections to the Mediterranean Iron Age of classical Greece and the Etruscans ► Hallstatt chiefs built or rebuilt a handful of hillforts in eastern France and southern Germany, and maintained an elite lifestyle.

The Iron Age ► These groups were truly independent of one another, politically, but they were interconnected by a vast, extant trading network such that the material culture--tools, kitchenware, housing style, farming techniques--were similar across the region ► The Hallstatt culture included an area between central France to western Hungary and from the Alps to central Poland ► The term includes many different unrelated regional groups, who used the same set of material culture because of a strong network of trade and exchange

The Iron Age ► One distinctive trait of Hallstatt elite sites was vehicle burials ► Bodies were placed in a timber-lined pit along with the ceremonial four-wheeled vehicle and the horse gear--but not the horses--that were used to move the body to the grave ► The carts often had elaborate iron wheels with multiple spokes and iron studs.

Chronology of the Iron Age BC (Late Iron Age, La Tène) ► Between BC, the Hallstatt elite system collapsed, and power shifted to a new set of people, under what was at first more egalitarian society ► The La Tène culture grew in power and wealth because of their location on important trade routes used by the Mediterranean Greeks and Romans to acquire status goods

The Iron Age ► Eventually, population pressure within the populous La Tène zones forced younger La Tène warriors out, beginning the massive "Celtic migrations“ ► La Tène populations moved southward into Greek and Roman areas, conducting extensive and successful raids, even into Rome itself, and eventually including most of the European continent

The Iron Age ► A new settlement system including central defended settlements called oppida were located in Bavaria and Bohemia ► These were not princely residences, but instead residential, commercial, industrial and administrative centres that focused on trade and production for the Romans ► The La Tène cultural pattern was significantly different from the earlier Hallstatt elites ► Like the Hallstatt, elite burials included wheeled vehicles; but La Tène elites used a two-wheeled chariot that they probably adopted from the Etruscans

The Iron Age ► Like Hallstatt, the La Tène cultural groups imported much from the Mediterranean, particularly wine vessels associated with a La Tène drinking ritual; but the La Tène created their own stylistic forms combining elements from Etruscan art with indigenous elements and Celtic symbols from the regions north of the English Channel Romano-Celtic mirror (Desborough).

► Characterized by stylized floral patterns and human and animal heads, the Early Celtic Art appeared in the Rhineland by the early 5th century BC The flagon is of the finest example of Early Celtic or Early La Tène Art from anywhere in Europe. It was made in eastern France, but copy the shape of bronze flagons made and used by the Etruscans in Italy at this time. The flagon was used for pouring wine, beer or mead at feasts. The flagon is inlaid with precious coral (now faded to white) from the Mediterranean coast, and red enamel (opaque red glass, probably from Asia Minor). It shows a mixture of styles: the 'oriental' handles in the form of a dog or wolf was an idea from Greek or Etruscan art, but made in a local style; the palmette decorations under the spouts are a popular Celtic motif, though originally from Egypt, via Greece; the duck at the end of the spout is a purely native element of the decoration.

Iron Age ► The La Tene population abandoned the hillforts used by the Hallstatt, and lived instead in small, dispersed self- sufficient settlements ► Social stratification illustrated in cemeteries practically disappears, especially compared to Hallstatt ► Finally, the La Tène clearly were more war-like than their Hallstatt precursors ► Warriors obtained the closest approximation of elite status in La Tene culture through raiding, particularly after the migrations into the Greek and Roman worlds began, and their burials were marked by weaponry, swords and battle gear

Iron Age ► Beginning in the third century BC, evidence for elites within the Late La Tene forces is seen in rich burials throughout central Europe, as is wine consumption, a large quantity of imported Republican bronze and ceramic vessels, and large scale feasting ► By the second century BC, oppidum--the Roman word for hillforts--appear once more in La Tene sites, serving as the seats of government for late Iron Age people

Iron Age ► The final centuries for the La Tene appear to have been fraught with constant battles as Rome grew in power ► The end of the La Tène period is traditionally associated with the successes of Roman imperialism, and the eventual conquest of Europe

Celts? ► The La Tène people are often referred to as the Pan- European Celts; but that doesn't necessarily mean they were people who had migrated from western Europe on the Atlantic ► Confusion about the name "Celt" is mainly the fault of Roman and Greek writers concerning these cultural groups ► Early Greek writers such as Herodotus kept the designation Celt for people north of the English Channel ► But later writers used the same term interchangeably with Gauls, referring to the warlike barbarian trading groups in central Europe ► That was primarily to distinguish them from the eastern Europeans, who were lumped together as Scythians ► Archaeological evidence does not suggest close cultural ties between western Europe Celts and the central European Celts

Art Task The tribes of Britain according to Ptolemy c150AD

Iron Age Hillforts ► Danebury is an Iron Age Hill Fort situated in the county of Hampshire in southern England ► The site is located on a hill (rising to 143 meters) surrounded by the gently undulating chalk plain of Wessex (45 to 60 meters below the hill) ► Danebury has been the subject of a major programme of excavation directed by Professor Barry Cunliffe that began in 1969 and ended in 1988 ► The main phase of occupation at Danebury began in the 7th or 6th century BC and lasted until the 1st century AD

Danebury Hillfort ► There was evidence of activity both before and after this period, but the Iron Age provides the most extensive phase of occupation ► The excavation at Danebury revealed both a complex development of ramparted earthworks and interior activity represented by circular structures, rectangular trench built structures and rectangular post built structures ► There was evidence of pre-hillfort activity on the hilltop in the early first millennium BC with the digging of pits and the deposition of burials

Danebury ► In the 6th century BC the first rampart and ditch were constructed around the hilltop with two opposing entrances on the south-east and west ► It seems likely that a road ran between the entrances with zones of activities in the interior represented by clusters of pits and rectangular post-built structures ► The south-eastern entrance was excavated and showed a complex series of phases and alterations of the gateway structures

Danebury ► By the late 4th century BC it consisted of a long tunnel entrance with a hornwork and several outwork features, the ramparts had also been substantially enhanced around the whole of the enclosed area and the western gate had been blocked ► At around 100 BC the eastern entrance was burnt down and there is some evidence of fighting with the site being abandoned at this time ► It may have continued in use as an animal corral for a while

Danebury ► The intensity of occupation and the associated deposition of artefacts generally increased through the 500 years of occupation of the hillfort ► The phasing and dating of the structures and deposits was a major challenge for the interpretation of Danebury and this was based mainly on the pottery typology together with a sequence of over 70 radiocarbon dates ► Danebury exists within a very rich archaeological landscape of contemporary linear ditches, field systems, farmstead enclosures and trackways