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The Iron Age

The period known as the Iron Age lasted in Britain for about 800 years (from c.750 BC to AD 43). The changes and technological innovations that occurred during this time were every bit as evolutionary as those that have occurred in the last 800 years, from the 13th century to the present day.

By the end of the Iron Age, amongst other things, coinage had been introduced, wheel thrown pottery was being made, there was an increased interest in personal appearance, people had started to live in larger and more settled communities, and the mortuary rites of society had changed.

Furthermore, because of climatic, geographical and topographical differences, someone living in Yorkshire or Ireland would have eaten different food, worn different clothing and lived in different housing conditions from someone living in southern Britain. Due to these ranges, and the varying evidence of the archaeology, the pattern of every day life in an Iron Age village has to be described in quite generalised terms.

Agriculture

Caesar commented that Britain was a land of small farms, and this has been proven by the archaeological evidence. Since Iron Age society was primarily agricultural, it is safe to presume that the daily routine would have revolved around the maintenance of the crops and livestock. Small farmsteads were tended by, and would have supported, isolated communities of family or extended family size, producing enough to live on and a little extra to exchange for commodities that the farmers were unable to provide for themselves.

Many of these small farmsteads, such as at Farley Mount in Hampshire, delimited with a circular bank and ditch enclosure, were surrounded by linear ditch systems that formed small rectangular fields, radiating out from the farm itself.

Environmental evidence - in the form of carbonised grains and pollen - has shown that new crops such as emmer wheat were introduced, in addition to the spelt wheat, barley, rye and oats already grown in these fields.

Harvested crops were stored in either granaries that were raised from the ground on posts, or in bell-shaped pits 2-3m (6-7ft) deep, dug into the chalk landscape. Some 4,500 of these storage pits have been found within the hillfort interior at Danebury in Hampshire, and if they were all used to store crops, this would have essentially made the site one large fortified granary.

Although faunal evidence shows that cattle and sheep would have been the most common farm animals, it is known that pigs were also kept. The animals would have aided the family, not only with heavy farm labour, in the case of the cattle, such as the ploughing of crop fields, but also as a valuable form of manure, wool or hide, and food products.

Horses and dogs are also observed in the archaeological evidence from both faunal remains and artefacts. Horses were used for pulling 2 or 4 wheeled vehicles (carts, chariots), while dogs would have assisted in the herding of the livestock and hunting. The classical writer Strabo actually comments that Britain was famed for its hunting dogs, which were exported throughout the Roman Empire.

Lifestyle

A very well preserved settlement has been discovered at the site of Chysauster in Cornwall. It was made up of individual houses of stone with garden plots, clustered along a street. In central southern Britain in about the sixth century, hillforts - large bank and ditch enclosures in prominent positions in the landscape - began to be built. The archaeological evidence shows that the enclosures were densely occupied, with circular houses and roads. In Wessex, the typical building on a settlement would have been the large roundhouse. All of the domestic life would have occurred within this.

The main frame of the roundhouse would have been made of upright timbers, which were interwoven with coppiced wood - usually hazel, oak, ash or pollarded willow - to make wattle walls. This was then covered with a daub made from clay, soil, straw and animal manure that would weatherproof the house. The roof was constructed from large timbers and densely thatched.

The main focus of the interior of the house was the central open-hearth fire. This was the heart of the house - an indispensable feature - to provide cooked food, warmth and light. Because of its importance within the domestic sphere, the fire would have been maintained 24 hours a day. Beside the fire may have stood a pair of firedogs, such as those found at Baldock in Herefordshire or suspended above it a bronze cauldron held up by a tripod and attached with an adjustable chain.

The ordinary basic cooking pots would have been made by hand, from the local clay and came in varying rounded shapes, occasionally with simple incised decoration.

As for eating, bread would have been an important part of any meal, and was made from wheat and barley ground down into flour using a quern-stone. The dough would have then been baked in a simple clay-domed oven, of which evidence has been found in Iron Age houses.

The barley and rye could also have been made into a kind of porridge, evidence for which has been found in the stomach contents in preserved Iron Age bodies that have been deposited in peat bogs in northern Europe. In addition to this, the Roman writer Pliny explains that grain was also fermented to make beer, and the surface foam that formed was scraped off and used in the bread-making process.

Other than cereal grains, few plant materials survived. However we can assume that Iron Age people supplemented their diet with edible berries, leaves, flowers, nuts and roots. The animals reared as livestock, pigs, cattle and sheep, would have been eaten as there is evidence of butchery on the bones. Milk and dairy products would have been available in addition to fish, birds, and the occasional wild animal. The evidence of beeswax in the bronze-casting techniques shows that honey would also have been available as a sweetener.

The interior of the house was an ideal place for the drying and preservation of food. Smoke and heat from the constant fire would have smoked meat and fish, and would have dried herbs and other plants perfectly. Salt was another means of preserving meat for the cold winter months, but this was a commodity that could not be made at a typical settlement and was therefore traded.

Leisure time

In another part of the house would have been an upright weaving loom. The wool from the sheep was spun and woven to make clothes. Spindle-whorls (round clay/stone weights used to make the spindle rotate evenly), carved bone weaving combs, and loomweights also of stone or clay - which held down the warp threads on the loom - are found on many Iron Age domestic sites.

At the end of the day, having tended to the livestock, there would presumably - hopefully - have been time to rest. This may have been a matter of sitting by the fire on logs, drinking freshly brewed beer from a drinking horn made of antler and talking to the other members of the house.

As for leisure activities for both the young and old, glass gaming pieces have been found in some of the later Iron Age burials, showing that forms of board games may have been available. Children, who during the day would have helped in the house, or tended livestock, may have occupied their free time by practising their skill at the slingshot - a common and accessible weapon of the Iron Age.

On one side of the roundhouse's interior, and based on internal post-holes, would have been the sleeping quarters. These bed areas may have been raised from the ground on a wooden base; with hay or feather mattresses, strewn with animal skins and wool blankets. The thick thatch of the roof and the constant heat from the fire would have made the interior of the roundhouse quite a snug and comfortable place to live in.

Appearance

Our understanding of how people dressed and cared for their appearance has come partly from the archaeological evidence, but mainly from what classical writers such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus wrote, amazed at the difference from the plain coloured togas that they were used to.

One of the main differences was that Britain's Iron Age people are said to have worn a form of close-fitting trousers (braccae), with a long tunic of either linen or wool, held at the waist with a belt. Over this would have been a cloak that was fastened at the shoulder with a brooch. The textiles were dyed bright colours and were woven with striped or checked patterns. There is evidence from the archaeological record of brooches, pins and other dress accessories that would have played both a functional and decorative role on the clothing.

The classical texts mention that both women and men may have grown their hair long, sometimes plaited, and that the men sported either beards or moustaches, which they also grew long. 'When they are eating the moustache becomes entangled in the food, and when they are drinking the drink passes, as it were, through a sort of strainer' , writes Diodorus Siculus.

Religion and ritual

It is thought that since farming played such an important role in the Iron Age community, the religious festivals would have followed the same seasonal pattern, based around the agricultural year. Fragments of a bronze calendar found in Coligny, near Bourg, in France, mentions two of the seasonal festivals; Beltane (1 May) and Lugnasad (1 August). Beltane recognises the beginning of the warm season - a time when cattle are put out to open grazing, while Lugnasad would have marked the hoped-for ripening of the crops.

Two other annual festivals are mentioned in Irish vernacular texts of the first millennium AD, and although they were written much later, they may still be a source of evidence of the religious activity that would have occurred in Iron Age Britain. The traditions may have been passed down orally, and written at this later date.

The texts talk of Samhain (1 November) and Imbolc (1 February). Imbolc possibly represented a time when the ewes began their lactation and therefore a new regenerative cycle amongst the livestock. Samhain, however, represented the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Agriculturally it was a time when the grazing season was over and the flocks were culled.

On a social level, Samhain was a transitional period, when the spirits could pass between the two worlds - this pagan tradition still continues in our society today, at Halloween. There is evidence from sites such as Winnall Down and Danebury in Hampshire that some pits are filled with specially chosen 'offerings', such as animal carcasses and even human remains. These special deposits may have been the result of rituals or ceremonies, including feasts, possibly from these seasonal festivals.

Find out more

Books

Iron Age Britain by B Cunliffe (BT Batsford Ltd / English Heritage, 1995)

Life in Iron Age Britain by M Herdman (Harrap, 1981)

Britain and the Celtic Iron Age by S James and V Rigby (British Museum Press, 1997)

Iron Age Farm: The Butser Experiment by P Reynolds (British Museum Publications, 1979)

Links

. See reconstructed roundhouses, built upon original Iron Age foundations.

, a centre for research into prehistoric and Roman agricultural and building techniques.

, provides a wealth of information about Celtic life.

, an Iron Age re-enactment society.

About the author

Sophia Jundi is doing research for a PhD thesis on Iron Age dress and appearance, at Southampton University, and teaches A-Level Archaeology at Ardingly College in Sussex.