Iron Age Lives: The Archaeology of Britain and Ireland 800 BC - AD 400

Iron Age Lives provides an integrated academic treatment of the Iron Age of Britain and Ireland, examining social changes, environmental, economic, demographic, and cultural factors that underpinned the emergence of fragmented and regionalized societies. It explores the development of complex social forms, including hillfort societies, village communities, broch-building societies, and ritual landscapes, and discusses central themes such as individual and collective identities, social roles of art and religion, changing gender roles, technological innovation, the treatment of the dead, gift-giving, trade, and exchange, and the role of conflict and violence. The text is supported by box features on recent discoveries and is focused on fresh and exciting new finds.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 256 pages
\n Publication date: 01 January 2021
\n Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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Iron Age Lives provides the first comprehensive academic treatment of the Iron Age of Britain and Ireland. After considering the social changes that marked the end of the Later Bronze Age, it examines the environmental, economic, demographic, and cultural factors that underpinned the emergence of the fragmented and regionalized societies of the Early Iron Age. Subsequent chapters trace the development of increasingly complex and distinctive social forms across Britain and Ireland, including the hillfort societies of southern England and the Welsh Marches; village communities of the Upper Thames Valley; the dense settlement landscapes, cemeteries, and chariot burials of East Yorkshire; the hillfort communities of Northumbria and southeast Scotland; the broch-building societies of Atlantic Scotland; and the ritual landscapes of Iron Age Ireland.

Central themes that cut across the books broadly chronological structure include: the creation and expression of individual and collective identities; the social role of art and religion; changing gender roles; technological innovation, including iron-working and rotary technology; the complex and varied treatments of the dead; gift-giving, trade, and exchange; and the role of conflict and violence.

The text is supported throughout by box features expanding on individual sites, objects, themes, or debates, and the book focuses, where appropriate, on fresh and exciting new finds and discoveries from the last few years, including, for example, the well-preserved bog bodies from eastern Ireland, recently excavated chariot burials from Newbridge and Ferry Fryston, Iron Age roads from East Anglia, the Midlands, and Ireland, musical instruments from High Pasture Cave in Skye and Cnip in Lewis, the shrine containing gold torcs from Stirlingshire, and more.

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Dimension: 246 x 189 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780415537940\n \n