Iron Age Leicestershire: Hillforts and Roundhouses

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archaeology, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

In our second session about Iron Age Leicestershire, we looked at the topic of settlement, investigating both hillforts and roundhouses. One of the sites we examined was the hillfort at Burrough Hill which was the subject of a training excavation by the University of Leicester from 2010 – 2014. Information about the project’s findings, including posters presenting each season’s discoveries, are available on their website.

This news clip, which aired on BBC East Midlands Today, relates to an Iron Age skeleton discovered at Burrough Hill:

This video by the University of Leicester discusses recent Iron Age finds from Glenfield Park:

There is an article, published in the BBC Countryfile magazine, which provides more information about British hillforts and recommends some that they consider worth a visit.

You may also want to check out Atlas of Hillforts website; if you agree to their Terms and Conditions, then click OK, you can explore the map of hillforts in Britain and Ireland.

The BBC History website has an animated reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse, which may also be of interest.

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Rise of Complex Societies: Transition to Farming

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archaeology, Bronze Age, Complex Societies, education, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, prehistory, stone age, WEA

In the first session, we looked at the domestication of plants and animals, as well as the transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle, something which is sometimes called the ‘Neolithic Revolution‘. Farming is believed to have begun in what is known as the Fertile Crescent in the Levant region, which stretches from northern Egypt through Israel and Jordan to the shores of the Persian Gulf, and then occurred independently in other regions of the world at different times from 11,000 years ago. Recent evidence, however, is suggesting that the first stirrings of the revolution may have begun even earlier, perhaps as far back as 19,000 years ago.

To quote from the previous link: “Our work suggests that these hunter-gatherer communities were starting to congregate in large numbers in specific places, build architecture and show more-complex ritual and symbolic burial practices – signs of a greater attachment to a location and a changing pattern of social complexity that imply they were on the trajectory toward agriculture.”

In the short video clip below, Craig Benjamin explains how agriculture drove change and why humans took the risk of abandoning foraging.

Iron Age Leicestershire: Corieltauvi

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archaeology, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

The Corieltauvi (formerly thought to be called the Coritani, and sometimes referred to as the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a civitas of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were bordered by the Brigantes to the north, the Cornovii to the west, the Dobunni and Catuvellauni to the south, and the Iceni to the east. Their capital was called Ratae Corieltauvorum, known today as Leicester.

References:

– Corieltauvi (Wikipedia)
– Native Tribes of Britain (BBC)
– Coinage and the Settlements of the Corieltauvi in East Midland Britain (pdf)

Iron Age Leicestershire: Iron Working

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archaeology, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age system, preceded by the Stone Age (Neolithic) and the Bronze Age. As its name suggests, Iron Age technology is characterized by the production of tools and weaponry by ferrous metallurgy (ironworking).

In the session, we listened to a segment of this podcast by Naked Archaeology on iron, glass and slag. In addition, an episode of BBC Radio 4’s ‘In Our Time‘ from 2011 discusses discuss the dawn of the European Iron Age and provides a useful overview.

Reading List: Rise of Complex Societies

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archaeology, Bronze Age, Complex Societies, education, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, prehistory, stone age, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these and we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.

 

Barker, G. 2009. The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers become Farmers? Oxford University Press.

Diamond, J. 1999. Guns, Germs and Steel. Vintage Press.

George, A (trans.). 2000. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Penguin Classics.

Gnanadesikan, A.E. 2008. The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet. Wiley-Blackwell.

Gosden, C. 2003. Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Hodder, I. 2011. Religion in the Emergence of Civilization: Çatalhöyük as a Case Study. Cambridge University Press.

Hodder, I. (Ed.) 2014. Religion at Work in a Neolithic Society: Vital Matters. Cambridge University Press.

Kriwaczek, P. 2012. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. Atlantic Books.

Leick, G. 2002. Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin.

Miles, R. 2010. Ancient Worlds: The Search for the Origins of Western Civilization. Penguin.

Scarre, C. (ed.). 2018. The Human Past. 4^th edition. Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Reading List: Archaeology of Iron Age Leicestershire

Tags

archaeology, education, Iron Age, Leicestershire, Loughborough, prehistory, WEA

Whilst it is not essential to do any background reading before the course begins, you may find it useful to do so. The reading list below contains books that you can read. You don’t have to read all of these and we don’t specify any that you must read. Instead, these are readings you can use to gain a preliminary understanding of topics, as well as to study in more depth those parts of the course you are particularly interested in. You may also want to take a look at magazines such as British Archaeology, World Archaeology and Current Archaeology.

Further suggestions about ways you can extend your understanding of topics through books, television etc may also be posted as appropriate on this blog.
Collis, J.R. 2003. The Celts, origins, myths, inventions. The History Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2003. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2009. Iron Age Communities in Britain, Fourth Edition. Routledge.

Cunliffe, B. 2010. The Druids: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Cunliffe B. 2011. Danebury Hillfort. 3^rd Edition. The History Press.

Cunliffe, B. 2018. The Ancient Celts. 2^nd Edition. Oxford University Press.

Dyer J. 1992. Hillforts of England and Wales. 2^nd Edition. Shire Archaeology

Foster, J. 2002. Life and Death in the Iron Age. Ashmolean Museum.

Morse, MA. 2005. How the Celts came to Britain. The History Press.

Pryor, F. 2004. Britain, BC; life in Britain and Ireland before the Romans. Harper Perennial

Reynolds P. 1979.  Iron Age Farm: The Butser Experiment.  Colonnade

Sharples, N M. 1991. Maiden Castle. English Heritage.

 

Bronze Age Britain: From Bronze to Iron

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archaeology, Britain, Bronze Age, education, Iron Age, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, prehistory, WEA

In the final session of this course, we discussed the transition from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age. This is a period which, in the Near East and the Mediterranean, has been linked to a cultural collapse, the causes for which are sometimes deemed to be due to the Sea Peoples, but which may be multi-causal.

This video reviews the evidence for the Bronze Age using examples from the Channel 4 series ‘Time Team’:

Bronze Age Britain: Migration

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archaeology, Bronze Age, education, news, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, prehistory, WEA

Migration in the Bronze Age has been in the news recently with the publication of a new study which suggests that in Britain, individuals connected to Beaker pots seem to be a distinct, genetically related group that almost wholly replaced the island’s earlier inhabitants. Earlier research had also investigated migration to Ireland during this time period.

The Amesbury Archer had previously hinted at the movement of at least some individuals when research using oxygen isotope analysis in the Archer’s tooth enamel suggested that he may have originated from an alpine region of central Europe. Meanwhile, the Boscombe Bowmen, although perhaps not so well-travelled, had grown up in the areas either of modern Wales or in the Lake District, but left in childhood.

Beginner’s Guide to Archaeology: Absolute Dating

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archaeology, Beginners Guide, education, Leicester, Leicestershire, WEA

Absolute dating, also sometimes called chronometric dating, is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Absolute dating provides a numerical age or range in contrast with relative dating which places events in order without any measure of the age between events.

Techniques include (amongst others): radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating, thermoluminescence dating, and amino acid racemization.

In The Future of the Past: Dating archaeology using radiocarbon and particle accelerators Tom Higham of the University of Oxford examines some of the projects the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit has been involved with over the last few years; from dating the Neanderthal extinction, to identifying the bones of Richard III and Alfred the Great.

Whilst in Carbon Dating: The Science of When Things Happen he discusses the way in which scientists establish the age of ancient and prehistoric artefacts.

Food and Drink in the Past: Taboos

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archaeology, education, food and drink, health, Leicestershire, Loughborough, WEA

To quote from this article by Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow:

Food taboos are known from virtually all human societies. Most religions declare certain food items fit and others unfit for human consumption. Dietary rules and regulations may govern particular phases of the human life cycle and may be associated with special events such as menstrual period, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and – in traditional societies – preparation for the hunt, battle, wedding, funeral, etc. On a comparative basis many food taboos seem to make no sense at all, as to what may be declared unfit by one group may be perfectly acceptable to another. On the other hand, food taboos have a long history and one ought to expect a sound explanation for the existence (and persistence) of certain dietary customs in a given culture. Yet, this is a highly debated view and no single theory may explain why people employ special food taboos.

There seem to be as many different food and drink prohibitions as there are cultures. Perhaps some of the more familiar include Kosher foods, that conform to the regulations of kashrut, and Halal, which  refers to what is permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law. There are, however, plenty of others.

Those who wish to follow up this topic may be interested in the following articles:

• ‘Cow will make your baby fat’: breaking food taboos in west Africa (The Guardian)

• Food and Eating: An Anthropological Perspective
• Food taboos and oddities: Q&A with Brian Stross