Cultural Grouping within the British pre-Roman Iron Age

Abstract

In a previous article in these Proceedings I raised some doubts about the current system of classifying the British pre-Roman Iron Age (Hodson 1962). My main criticisms were that the first stage of this classification into three divisions A, B and C did not reflect a clear threefold division within the material to be classified and also that this system did not deal satisfactorily with the British Iron Age as part of a wider European phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to look for steps towards a modified first classification that may overcome these objections. Following the four principles of classification suggested (Hodson 1962, p. 153) an attempt will be made to pick out the most distinctive characteristics or type-fossils within the pre-Roman Iron Age and to see whether these features recur together in definite groups in Europe as a whole. These groups should represent cultures in the archaeological sense and afterwards their interpretation should provide a general archaeological account of the early Iron Age in Britain.Although attempting to put forward for discussion a provisional classification of some sort, the real purpose of this paper is to emphasize serious gaps in the available evidence. Until these gaps are filled, no classification can hope to be in any way definitive.It is first necessary to establish some simple chronological system by which to inter-relate any cultures that may be established. A direct reference to absolute dates (or periods of, say, a hundred years) would be most convenient.

The Celtic Question: An Assessment of Identity Definition in the European Iron Age

“…These labels have been most disputed in relation to Celtic art where it appears in engravings and on metalwork such as fibulae and swords. Therefore this is the aspect of material culture where the debate over the use of terms most applies, although there are dispute surrounding other aspects including house typologies (Harding 2009;Hodson 1964) and oppida (Wells 2002).…”

Cemeteries and Settlement Patterns of the Iron Age on the Yorkshire Wolds

“…In the Trent valley region, an area with ditched squares just like some of the early Yorkshire barrows (May 1970), C. Smith has argued from environmental evidence that the Iron Age saw the change from shifting agriculture to a more intensive infield/outfield system which he attributes to population growth (Smith 1978, 100). East Yorkshire has long been regarded with suspicion by archaeologists because of its exceptional burials, but there is now little doubt that the builders of square barrows were using the architecture and everyday artefacts which were typical of lowland Britain (the 'Woodbury Culture' of F. R. Hodson: Hodson 1964b). Furthermore, it may now be seen that these settlements developed along similar lines to those in other regions.…”

Perspectives on Ethnicity

“…Such a reliance on a few diagnostic types became quite extreme in the work of some archaeologists. For instance, in a re-evaluation of the British Iron Age, Hodson (1964) identified a single culture, called the Woodbury complex, on the basis of only three widely distributed type fossils-the permanent round house, the weaving comb and the ring-headed pin (see Figure 2.1).…”