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The introduction of iron
The Iron Age in Britain covers the period from about 700 BC to 43 AD following the Bronze Age and before the Roman period when the working and use of iron gradually spread throughout the region.
Of course the introduction of iron-making did not happen overnight; nor did it take place everywhere at the same time. Generally speaking, the new technology was introduced first and became most widespread in southern and lowland Britain. Even here, the use of iron was to a large extent limited to prestigious or ritual objects for much of this period. Only in the later Iron Age did iron become relatively commonplace in everyday use.
Foreign 'invaders'
The first people to introduce iron to Britain were probably Celtic speakers from the continent. The earliest iron objects were swords, with other weapons and tools being made subsequently.
Early studies of the British Iron Age tended to emphasise the importance of this continental influence, with foreign invasions being held responsible for the big changes that took place during the period. In addition to the initial introduction and later stylistic changes in iron objects, continental invaders were also thought to have been behind the emergence of large, fortified hillforts during the fifth and sixth centuries BC and the introduction of cremations, coinage and wheel-thrown pottery from around 100 BC.
More recent studies, however, have found only limited evidence in support of the invasion theories and the emphasis has switched towards economic and social influences. For example, the major changes that took place during the Late Iron Age (around 100 BC to 43 AD) used to be attributed to the arrival of Belgic incomers from northern France, as mentioned by Julius Caesar. These incomers are now believed to have played a much more limited role, and most of the changes that occurred during this period are thought to have been the result of the increasing trade and other contacts between southern Britain and the Roman world.
Technological advances
Technological innovation gathered pace during the Iron Age, particularly in the later period. Some of the key advances included the introduction of the potter's wheel; the lathe (used not only for woodworking but also for turning shale objects, such as featured in Time Team's Green Island programme in the 2004 series); glass-bead making; the rotary quern (used for grinding grain); and iron-tipped ploughshares, which made possible the cultivation of heavy, clay soils.
Increasing population
The population of Britain increased substantially during the Iron Age, and is estimated to have exceeded one million. This was made possible by the introduction of new crops and farming techniques, particularly the iron-tipped ploughshare. Harvests improved with the use of new varieties of barley and wheat, and increased farming of peas, beans, flax and other crops.
The clearance of woodlands and opening up of areas with heavy clay soils, moreover, spread bread-wheat farming throughout much of lowland Britain – one of the reasons for the attraction of Britain to the later Roman invaders. Indeed, when Pytheas of Massilia (modern-day Marseilles) circumnavigated Britain around 330 BC, he described the people he encountered on his voyage as skilled wheat farmers.
Roundhouses and other structures
More than 3,000 Iron-Age occupation sites survive in some form above ground in Britain, whilst a similar number have been identified from cropmarks. The landscape had been altered forever by the woodland clearances, and numerous farmsteads and extensive field systems reached into all but the most remote and inhospitable locations.
The 'classic' Iron-Age dwelling was a roundhouse, usually built of timber and thatch. Usually, all that is left of these structures today is the raised platform on which they were built, post holes marking the positions of their support timbers or 'drip ditches' into which water ran off from their roofs. The basic structure remained largely unchanged from the Bronze Age. Although stone was used for some buildings during this period – most notably the drystone brochs of Scotland – timber was by far the most common building material.
Most Iron-Age settlements were on a small scale: individual farmsteads that probably housed single extended families. But some hillforts have been found to include communities of several hundred people. There are also huge linear earthworks, particularly in southern England; village-sized settlements of groups of houses; small, defended enclosures known as raths and duns; the artificial lake dwellings called crannogs; boundary ditches and walls; trackways and field systems; enclosures, compounds, mines, production centres and ritual or meeting places.
Beliefs and burials
Burials were extremely rare in most of Iron-Age Britain, and there are very few known burial sites, limited to just a small number of specific areas. The absence of burials and therefore of grave goods means that archaeologists lack the same sort of evidence for how people lived that is more usual for other periods or cultures.
Many of the Iron-Age artefacts that have been found appear to have been 'votive offerings', deposited in rivers, lakes, marshes and other watery places. It used to be thought that these had been 'lost' there accidentally or as a result of battles. Many of these objects are found grouped together in particular locations, though, and are rarely or never found in other locations, meaning that they must have been placed their deliberately, almost certainly for ritual or religious reasons.
One of the most famous Iron-Age discoveries of all, moreover, was that of the 2,000-year-old 'Lindow Man', named after Lindow Moss, the peat bog in which his body was found. It appears that he was ritually killed and his body deliberately deposited in the bog, probably as an offering to the gods believed to inhabit such watery places.