Iron Age Lives

Iron Age Lives provides the first integrated 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 regionalised societies of the Early Iron Age. Subsequent chapters trace the development of increasingly complex and distinctive social forms across Britain and Ireland. Central themes that cut across the book's 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.