Rethinking Iron Age connections across the Channel and North Sea

Webley, Leo J

doi:10.2307/j.ctvh1dj3c.11

Cited by 11 publications

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“…In addition, the complexities and different sub-divisions of typo-chronologies and their respective terminologies can prove obstructive (see Roberts et al 2013), as can the varying practices of archaeological fieldwork in the region (eg, Webley et al 2012). However, the similarities and differences in mid–late 2nd millennium BC funerary practices have been discussed in the broader context of North-west European later prehistoric archaeology (eg, Bourgeois & Talon 2009, 39–42; Bradley et al 2015, 195–205; Marcigny et al 2015, 231; Webley 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing Community Cemeteries: Cremation Burials in Britain during the Middle Bronze Age (c.1600–1150 calbc)

Caswell

Roberts

2018

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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The Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600–1150 cal bc) in Britain is traditionally understood to represent a major funerary transition. This is a transformation from a heterogeneous funerary rite, largely encompassing inhumations and cremations in burial mounds and often accompanied by grave goods, to a homogeneous and unadorned cremation-based practice. Despite a huge expansion in the number of well excavated, radiocarbon dated, and osteologically analysed sites in the last three decades, current interpretations of Middle Bronze Age cremation burials still rely upon a seminal paper by Ellison (1980), which proposed that they comprise and represent an entire community. This paper analyses 378 cremation sites containing at least 3133 burials which represent all those that can be confidently dated to the Middle Bronze Age in Britain. The new analysis demonstrates that relatively few sites can be characterised as community cemeteries and that there are substantially more contemporary settlement sites, though few contemporary settlements are in close proximity to the cemeteries. The identifiable characteristics of cremation-based funerary practices are consistent across Britain with little evidence for social differentiation at the point of burial. It is also evident that only a minority of the population received a cremation burial. There is a substantial decrease in archaeologically visible funerary activity from the preceding Early Bronze Age (c. 2200–1600 cal bc) and a further decrease in the proceeding Late Bronze Age (c. 1150–800 cal bc) in Britain. This is comparable in form, and partially in sequence, to Bronze Age funerary practices in Ireland and several regions in North-west Europe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing Community Cemeteries: Cremation Burials in Britain during the Middle Bronze Age (c.1600–1150 calbc)

Caswell

Roberts

2018

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…Log- and plank-built boats are known from the mid-second millennium bc (Wright, 1990; Jones, 2012: 33–37), and similarities in material across the English Channel from the later part of the second millennium demonstrate a regular seaborne traffic (Lehoërff & Talon, 2017). From the late second/early first century bc onwards, seaborne trade from Gaul brought Roman goods, including Italian amphorae and Armorican ceramics, to southern Britain, with trade between south-eastern Britain and Gaul intensifying from the mid first century bc (Webley, 2015). Within Britain, wheeled vehicles and fittings are attested from the earlier part of the first millennium onward (e.g.…”

Section: Transport and Economic Development In Roman Britainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

Ortman,

Bulik,

Wiseman

et al. 2023

Eur. j. archaeol

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Reductions in the cost of transporting manufactured goods have been an important element in economic development in the recent past, and previous research suggests that the Roman period in Britain also saw substantial reductions in such costs. The authors investigate how far it is possible to measure changes in transport costs by considering the spatial distributions of pottery from known Roman production locations over time. Their analysis of an extensive database of pottery assemblages is designed to evaluate a series of expectations concerning how reductions in transport costs may have affected such assemblages and their distribution. Results suggest that costs were reduced by a factor of about two, leading to related changes in pottery production, distribution, and consumption over time. The ability to quantify changes in transport costs opens new perspectives for investigating the general determinants of economic development using archaeological data.

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“…Weaving combs, which were usually made from antler, are a common find on Iron Age settlements in Britain and so were one of the type fossils used by Hodson to define his Woodbury Culture as typical of the Iron Age in south England (Hodson 1964, 103). These combs are found across mainland Britain and its islands and a few are also known from Ireland, France and the Netherlands (Raftery 1984, 236–8; Tuohy 1999; Webley 2015). In south England the earliest combs date to the Late Bronze Age and they became more frequent during the Iron Age (Seager Smith 2000, 233) before falling quickly out of use in the Romano‐British period.…”

Section: Weaving Combsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Face From the British Iron Age: A Decorated Iron Age Weaving Comb From Harwell, Oxfordshire

Fitzpatrick

2020

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary The handle of a decorated weaving comb of bone, found in an Iron Age settlement at Harwell, UK, has a naturalistic depiction of a human face rare for prehistoric Britain. Dated to the fifth to third centuries BC, the comb was probably used in the making of narrow pieces of patterned textile. It is suggested that the linear decoration on the comb represents the patterns on textiles, which are usually regarded as the products of a domestic craft, but the figural representation derives from the repertoire of metal workers.

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Rethinking Iron Age connections across the Channel and North Sea

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Reassessing Community Cemeteries: Cremation Burials in Britain during the Middle Bronze Age (c.1600–1150 calbc)

Reassessing Community Cemeteries: Cremation Burials in Britain during the Middle Bronze Age (c.1600–1150 calbc)

Transport Costs and Economic Change in Roman Britain

A Face From the British Iron Age: A Decorated Iron Age Weaving Comb From Harwell, Oxfordshire

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