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Pre Roman Britain

Pre Roman Britain. AKA:The Late Iron Age Late Prehistoric Britain Pre Invasion Britain Celtic Britain. ‘An Age of Mystery’. Gaps in knowledge filled by romantic fantasies. How we know anything. Archaeology: uncovering site plans, artefacts, habitation sites.

mara-frederick
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Pre Roman Britain

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  1. Pre Roman Britain AKA:The Late Iron Age Late Prehistoric Britain Pre Invasion Britain Celtic Britain

  2. ‘An Age of Mystery’ • Gaps in knowledge filled by romantic fantasies.

  3. How we know anything. • Archaeology: uncovering site plans, artefacts, habitation sites. • Artefacts: objects that give an idea of how the people lived, what they could make, etc. • Landscape studies: what the environment was like and how people could have lived in it.

  4. Celtic Expansion • 5th century BC. Spread from central western Europe to the Balkans, Northern Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain. • 387 BC Rome sacked by ‘Celts’.

  5. Celtic CultureCommon cultural elements: • Tribal focused. • Tribal hierarchy. • Agricultural base. • Limited urbanisation. • Warrior culture. • Language • ‘Spiral’ artistic style. • Religion.

  6. Celtic Britain • Cultural development over several 1000 years. • Island culture: limited immigration and political expansion. • No direct link with the Mediterranean cultures.

  7. Urbanisation • Regional variations in the forms used. • Oppida: tribal focal points for administration, security, government. • Limited development of infrastructure.

  8. A Hill Fort Maiden Castle, Nr Dorchester, Dorset. • Begun c600 BC. • Existing plan 150 BC. • Entrance defences remodelled in c70BC. • 44 acre internal perimeter.

  9. Landscape maps • Landscape consists of several elements: - ancestral burial sites. - religious centres. - Tribal ritual centres. - tribal centre. - communication routes.

  10. Uffington landscape. 1 Chalk Figure: White Horse. 2 Hill Fort. 3 Artificial mound. 4 Ridgeway Path. 5 Burial mound.

  11. The Round House • Circular shape. • Made of timber with wattle & daub walls. • Thatched roofs. • Central hearth. • Size reflects status. • Occasional use of stone for walling.

  12. Rural culture • Most people live on land. • Individual farms or farming communities. • Fertile soils. • ‘Traditional’: smallholdings, no imported crops / methods.

  13. Warrior society • Tribal army. • Focus on individual bravery: head hunting, rites of passage. • No tactical organisation. • Chariots still used in England. • Inter-tribal warfare constant.

  14. Celtic religion • Druids serve as spiritual leaders. • Tradition of gods associated with nature: rivers, forests, animals. • Anthropomorphic tradition. • Shrines or sacred places.

  15. Sacrifice or execution?The Lindow Bog body • Body discovered in peat bog in 1963. • High status: trimmed beard & nails. • Last meal of porridge. • Strangled – cord remained at his throat. • Throat cut.

  16. The culture of Status:Material evidence • Finds from high-status burials show the trappings of power and belief. • Jewellery. • Weapons and armour. • Food and drink. • Tableware. • Imported luxury items.

  17. Trade with Rome develops:Hengistbury Head. • Promontory on south coast nr Christchurch Harbour, Dorset. • Land approach cut off by defensive ditches. • Roman amphorae of the 1st and 2nd centuries BC.

  18. Power relationships with Rome:The Lexden Tumulus, Colchester. • High status burial. • Roman amphorae and pottery. • Amongst the items were a medallion of the emperor Augustus and a bronze portrait bust of the emperor Gaius.

  19. The Waterloo Helmet and the Battersea Shield • Both bronze. • Decorated in Celtic style: spirals and abstract designs. • Both dredged from the river Thames. Offering to the river gods? • Limited defensive value: therefore status symbol?

  20. Celtic art

  21. Pre-Roman Britain • Tribes. • Warrior society. • Agricultural. • Few urban centres. • Common language. • Common religion. • Common culture.

  22. Isolationism ends: The landings of Julius Caesar • 58 BC Caesar begins conquest of Gaul. • 55 BC leads 2 legions to Britain. Southern tribes submit. • 54 BC leads 5 legions to Britain. Oppidum stormed. Peace treaty signed.

  23. What the Romans thought… • ‘The stream of Oceanus, filled with large numbers of sea monsters, dashes against the shores of the distant Britons.’ (Horace) • ‘The Britons, who are savage towards foreigners…’ (Horace) • ‘Their customs are in some respects like those of the Gauls, in other respects simpler and more barbaric. They are also unskilled in horticulture or farming in general.’ (Strabo)

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