Iron Age in Lowland Britain [Paperback]

This bookwas written at a time when the older conventional diffusionist view of prehistory, largely associated with the work of V. Gordon Childe, was under rigorous scrutiny from British prehistorians, who still nevertheless regarded the Arras culture of eastern Yorkshire and the Belgic cemeteries of south-eastern Britain as the product of immigrants from continental Europe. Sympathetic to the idea of population mobility as one mechanism for cultural innovation, as widely recognized historically, it nevertheless attempted a critical re-appraisal of the southern British Iron Age in its continental context. Subsequent fashion in later prehistoric studies has favoured economic, social and cognitive approaches, and the cultural-historical framework has largely been superseded. Routine use of radiocarbon dating and other science-based applications, and new field data resulting from developer-led archaeology have revolutionized understanding of the British Iron Age, and once again raised issues of its relationship to continental Europe.

Preface  Part 1: Background to the Study  1. Culture, Chronology, Classification  Part 2: Settlement and Society  2. Enclosure Types and Structural Patterns  3. House Types: Round and Rectangular  4. Fortifications and Warfare  5. Economy, Industry and Crafts  6. Celtic Religion and Ceremonial Monuments  7. Burials and Funerary Practices  Part 3: Material Remains and Chronology  8. The Late Bronze Age Problem and the Transition to the Early Iron Age  9. The Primary Iron Age: Native, Refugee, Colonist?  10. The Early Le T?ne Phase: The Marnian Problem  11. The Middle La T?ne Phase: Consolidation and Insular Developments  12. The Late Le T?ne Phase: The Belgic Invasions  Part 4: Historical Summary  13. Ilãô