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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY Since 1935 The Prehistoric Society Europa Conference 2021 People and Society in Late Prehistoric Europe 18–19 June 2021 A virtual conference celebrating the achievements of Prof Colin Haselgrove, University of Leicester, in the field of European prehistory Timetable and Abstract Booklet Aerial view of Burrough Hill hillfort, showing excavations in 2013. A hoard was found in the far corner of the site (produced by Aerial Cam) © UoL. Timetable at-a-glance Friday 18 June 2021 09:45 Conference opens online 10:00–10:15 Welcome and introduction: Prof Clive Gamble 10:15–10:35 The Iron Age hoards from Snettisham in context, Dr Julia Farley, British Museum & Dr Jody Joy, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge 10:35–10:55 Ethnogenesis in Late Iron Age Britain: The case of the Silures, Dr Oliver Davis, Cardiff University 10:55–11:15 The origins of British oppida: Understanding transformation in Iron Age practice & society, Dr Nicky Garland, Durham University 11:15–11:30 Questions and discussion 11:30–11:50 Break 11:50–12:10 Facial recognition in Early Celtic Art: Perspectives from neuro-atypical experiences, Dr Tanja Romankiewicz, University of Edinburgh 12:10–12:30 From meanings to effects: A multi-scalar approach to anthropomorphic imagery in Middle–Late Iron Age Europe and beyond, Dr Helen Chittock, AOC Archaeology Group 12:30–12:50 Aspects of design in Iron Age and early Roman Europe, Christina Unwin, Durham University 12:50–13:05 Questions and discussion 13:05–14:05 Lunch break 14:05–14:25 Who were the potters of prehistory? Analysing fingerprints and finger impressions to uncover the identities of Bronze and Iron Age potters, Meredith Laing, University of Leicester 14:25–14:45 Home Birds or Social Butterflies? Debating the Iron Age by dating the Iron Age, Dr Sophia Adams, University of Glasgow 14:45–15:05 Home Birds or Social Butterflies? Iron Age mobility from a scientific perspective, Dr Derek Hamilton, University of Glasgow 15:05–15:20 Questions and discussion 15:20–15:40 Break 15:40–16:00 Investigating Iron Age cloth through experimental archaeology, Jennifer Beamer, University of Leicester 16:00–16:20 Beyond ethnicity: Re-interpreting the Chiavari cemetery, Elisa Vecchi, University of Nottingham 16:20–16:40 Belgic, British or a bit of both: Investigating the links between the Aylesford-Swarling culture and contemporary cremation burials from northern France, Dr Andrew Lamb, Independent Researcher & Dr Quentin Sueur, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart 16:40–16:55 Questions and discussion 16:55–18:00 Virtual wine reception and presentation of the Baguley award, hosted by Prof Clive Gamble Saturday 19 June 2021 09:45 Conference opens online 10:00–10:10 Welcome: Prof Clive Gamble 10:10–10:50 How we die: Violent death, display and deposition in Iron Age Britain, Dr Mel Giles, University of Manchester 10:50–11:30 Early La Tène elite burials in the Lower Rhine/Meuse region. Material culture, connectivity and social change, Prof Nico Roymans, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 11:30–11:45 Break 11:45–12:25 ‘I went out for a ride and I never went back’: Mobility in the British Iron Age, Prof Janet Montgomery and Dr Tom Moore, Durham University 12:25–12:45 Questions and discussion 1 12:45–13:45 Lunch break 13:45–14:25 Iron Age demographics: Community, mobility and scale, Prof Ian Armit, University of York 14:25–15:05 Motherhood and mothering in later European prehistory, Dr Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, Austrian Archaeological Institute – Prehistory, Austrian Academy of Sciences 15:05–15:20 Questions and discussion 15:20–15.40 Break 15:40–16:20 Our friends in the north: Stanwick, Traprain Law, and the encroaching Roman world, Dr Fraser Hunter, National Museums Scotland 16:20–17.00 Bibracte (Burgundy, France), witness of a world in transition, Dr Vincent Guichard, Centre archéologique européen/Bibracte 17:00–17:15 Questions and discussion 17:15–17:30 Closing, Prof Clive Gamble Friday 18 June 2021: Abstracts Morning Chair: Dr Rachel Pope, University of Liverpool 10:15–10:35 The Iron Age Hoards from Snettisham in context, Julia Farley, British Museum & Jody Joy, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge This paper will explore the hoards from the Iron Age site of Snettisham (Norfolk, UK) in their wider context. This exceptional site has produced at least fourteen separate hoards. The finds include almost 200 complete or fragmentary torcs, other types of jewellery such as bracelets and rings, numerous coins, and other material including ingots. The scale of the deposits makes Snettisham one of the largest finds of prehistoric jewellery from anywhere in Europe. Most of the hoards are comprised of intact torcs, whilst one hoard contained almost exclusively fragmented objects. The site itself lies on a low hill looking down towards the Wash, on the edge of the North Sea. Although there are no structural remains contemporary with the hoards, the site is enclosed by a polygonal ditch or palisade. A square structure, perhaps a temple, was added during the Roman period. Three avenues will be explored in this paper: the biographies of the torcs themselves (many of which show signs of wear and repair, and in rare cases may have been in use for over a century before their deposition), the depositional practices evidenced at the site, and the landscape location. These strands will be drawn together to consider the social and religious context of deposition in Late Iron Age Norfolk, possible motivations behind hoarding practices, and the relationship of the Snettisham hoards to contemporary deposits across the UK and continental Europe. 10:35–10:55 Ethnogenesis in Late Iron Age Britain: The case of the Silures, Oliver Davis, Cardiff University The conventional model of Late Iron Age ethnicities reflecting the tribal configurations that Roman authors ascribed (and later fossilised within Roman civitates) has been increasingly challenged in recent years. The model was long supported by numismatic evidence, in which coin distributions were used to construct supposed tribal boundaries. However, even these data have now been questioned. Prof Haselgrove, amongst others, have argued that more subtle, smaller-scale patterns are evident in the generalised coin distributions, which are suggestive of more localised, and fluid, socio-political relationships. In western Britain, particularly those areas such as Wales where Late Iron Age communities did not mint or use coins during this period, the archaeological identification of ‘tribal’ entities has long been problematic. The literary evidence seems at odds with archaeological data, such as settlement or (the rather limited) ceramic distribution patterns, which appear to emphasise political and social fragmentation at this time. Nonetheless, the tribal model of social configuration persists in Wales, albeit in a refined form of federalised ‘clans’. These are characterised as somewhat independent groups, who recognised a shared heritage and cooperated together as supra-regional tribal entities in times of stress. This shared heritage has been suggested to have roots in the Late Bronze Age where the distributions of socketed axes are argued to conform to the later tribal boundaries. This paper seeks to critique this position by exploring the ethnogenesis of Iron Age communities in south-east Wales, an area routinely associated with the Silures. Drawing from my recent work at hillforts and smaller settlements 2 in the region I will argue that the archaeological evidence suggests the emergence of small-scale, localised, communities with unstable shifting socio-political relationships. This seems at odds with the notion of a shared Silurian identity and I will question whether one existed at all in the Late Iron Age. 10:55–11:15 The Origins of British Oppida: Understanding transformation in Iron Age practice & society, Nicky Garland, Durham University In Britain, large poly-focal complexes known as oppida formed an integral part of the social changes occurring in Late Iron Age Britain. Despite the importance of oppida within current narratives, how or why these settlements were established remains poorly understood. A pan-European tradition, it is often argued these sites emerged from empty or underused parts of the Iron Age landscape, marking the location of neutral meeting places where different mobile social groups came together to form new connections. However, new evidence suggests that ‘pre-oppidum’ landscapes were far from empty. Instead earlier occupation, particularly agricultural activities, had a dramatic impact on the formation of oppida in the Later Iron Age. This paper reviews the archaeological evidence for changing Iron Age settlement across several British oppida, including Chichester (West Sussex), Stanwick (North Yorkshire), Bagendon (Gloucestershire), Silchester (Hampshire) and Colchester (Essex). A review of past and recent evidence, partly from developer-funded archaeology, suggests British Late Iron Age oppida may have, in part, been established directly from Middle Iron Age settlement and traditions, alongside external influences. This new understanding for the origins of oppida has a wider importance for British Iron Age studies. If the origins of territorial oppida were influenced physically, socially and politically, by the interaction between and social structure of Middle Iron Age groups, should we now rethink changing settlement patterns and the structure of society at the end of prehistory? 11:50–12:10 Facial recognition in European Celtic Art: Perspectives from neuro-atypical experiences, Tanja Romankiewicz, University of Edinburgh This paper is interested in the visual impact of European Celtic Art. What can be recognized in these cusps and swirls that are so typical of this Iron Age art from Scotland to Continental Europe? Yet, this paper is not about what we can see – it is about what we cannot see, seemingly. Our 21st-century world is one of visual communication in which icons and emoji circumnavigate language differences.
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