IARSS 2021 Conference Programme
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The 24th Iron Age Research Student Symposium 2nd to 4th June 2021 Conference Programme 1 This year’s logo features an illustration of the Bronze Bull’s Head Escutcheon from Dinorben 1 Hillfort by Helen Houghton Foster. Welcome to IARSS 2021! The IARSS 2021 committee would like to say thank-you to all our chairs and speakers for taking part in this event. We would also like to express our gratitude to the following organisations for sponsoring this event: And a special thanks to Dr Mel Giles for donating a copy of her book! 2 Registration This year’s IARSS will held virtually via ZOOM. Attendance to the conference is free but you will need to register to receive and access the ZOOM meeting links. If you wish to take part, please email: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Registration’. You will be added to our mailing list and we shall send out the ZOOM details on Tuesday 1st June 2021. 3 IARSS 2021 Programme Wednesday 2nd June 17:30-19:00 Evening Keynote Lecture Alex Fitzpatrick (University of Bradford) & Dr Rachel Pope (University of Liverpool) An Agenda for Action: 10 Years On Thursday 3rd June 09:30-10:00 Welcome Session 1: Continuity and Change across Later Prehistory Chair: Dr James O’Driscoll (University of Aberdeen) 10:00-10:25 Lorrae Campbell (University of Liverpool) The Origins of British Hillforts: A comparative study of Late Bronze Age hillfort origins in the Atlantic west 10:25-10:50 Eleanor de Spretter Yates (University of Liverpool) Personal Appearance and Identity in Later Prehistory: Bronze Age and Iron Age Razor Blades 10:50-11:15 Beverley Still (Durham University) Death is Not the End: Reassessing the treatment of the human body and associated funerary practices in Britain and Ireland from 1200 – 400 BC 11:15-11:40 Misha Enayat (University of Southampton) Good Taste: Food and Dining Across the Socioeconomic Spectrum in Late Iron Age England 11:40-12:00 Session Discussion 12:00-13:00 Lunch 4 Session 2: Plants, Production and People Chair: Dr Katharina Becker (University College Cork) 13:00-13:25 Frija Schmidt (University of Cambridge) Feeding the Etruscans 13:25-13:50 Erin Crowley-Champoux (University of Minnesota) Agricultural Specialization and Resilience in Late Iron Age Ireland 13:50-14:15 Molly Masterson (University of Oxford) Constructing ‘Plantiness’ in Iron Age Wessex 14:15-14:40 Jennifer Beamer (University of Leicester) Textile Production Organization in the Danebury Landscape 14:40-15:00 Session Discussion 15:00-15:30 Break Lightning Talks (Cutting-edge Research Projects) 15:30-15:45 Mark Knight (CAU) Must Farm 15:45-16:00 Nebu George (Bangor University) Multi-Element Roundhouse Analysis 16:00-16:15 Trevor Creighton (Butser Ancient Farm) Butser Ancient Farm Showcase 16:15-16:30 General Discussion 16:30 End of Day 5 Friday 4th June 09:30-10:00 Welcome Session 3: Mortuary Behaviour Chair: Dr Mel Giles (University of Manchester) 10:00-10:25 Faye Shearman (University of Cardiff) The concept of partibility; patterns of fragmentation in Iron Age Wessex. An investigation into the conscious dismantling of humans and animals. 10:25-10:50 Adelle Bricking (University of Cardiff) Life and Death in Iron Age Wales: results from a multi-scalar analysis from Dinorben and RAF St Athan. 10:50-11:15 Emma Tollefsen (University of Manchester) To Decay or Not to Decay? That is the Question: Understanding the Complexities and Nuances of Different Mortuary Treatments in Iron Age Britain (c. 800 BC – AD 100) 11:15-11:40 Tiffany Treadway (University of Cardiff) If Stab Wounds Could Talk: Experimental Study of Lesions Observed in Bog Body Funerary Performances 11:40-12:00 Session Discussion 12:00-13:00 Lunch Session 4: Objects and Art Chair: Dr Julia Farley (British Museum) 13:00-13:25 Reb Ellis (University of Hull) Animals and Humans in La Tène Art in England and Wales: Results of a Data Driven Approach 13:25-13:50 Jane Barker (University of Manchester) Straight from the Horse’s Mouth and other Anatomical Tales 6 13:50-14:15 Matt Hitchcock (University of Manchester) Shields, Materials and Form. 14:15-14:40 Jake Morley-Stone (University of Liverpool) Developing a Methodology: Refocusing the Study of Pellet Mould Technology from the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age in Britain 14:40-15:00 Session Discussion 15:00-15:30 Break Lightning Talks (Cutting-edge Research Projects) 15.30-15.45 Dr Alan Williams (University of Liverpool) Ancient Tin Project 15.45-16.00 Dr Lindsey Büster (University of York) COMMIOS Project 16.00-16.15 Dr Courtney Nimura (University of Oxford) & Ethan Grüber (American Numismatic Society) Celtic Coin Index Database 16.15-16.30 General Discussion 16.30 Prizes, IARSS 2022 & Closing Remarks ePosters viewable from Wednesday 2nd June at: www.iarss2021.wordpress.com/eposter-gallery Michelle La Berge (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) The Wild Colors Of Iron Age Textiles 7 Speaker Abstracts Session 1: Late Bronze Age and Continuity Lorrae Campbell (University of Liverpool) The Origins of British Hillforts: A comparative study of Late Bronze Age hillfort origins in the Atlantic west The Late Bronze Age in Britain (c. 1250-750 BC) was a period of economic and social reorganisation. This presentation examines the evidence for the occupation and enclosure of hilltops in the Atlantic west of Britain during this formative period: focussing on the reasons why communities started to come together at this time to construct these impressive monuments and providing information about how these communities were organising the landscape during a time when the first effects of climatic deterioration was beginning to be felt. Hilltop enclosures, rather than being marginal locations away from population centres, instead played an important role for communities navigating their way from the safe and settled world of the Middle Bronze Age to the emerging realities of life in a more unpredictable environment. Hilltop sites are examined in terms of landscape location, settlement evidence and material culture, allowing the social drivers behind the development of these magnificent monuments to be reconstructed. Whilst settlement evidence of sparse, the act of enclosing the space seems to have been the main driver. This, alongside the availability of water sources, suggests that they acted as hubs supporting seasonal transhumance activities associated with pastoral agriculture. Together with evidence for personal items, tools and weapons found on these hilltop sites, it suggests that they provided a location for communal gatherings and feasting designed to support community cohesion for a society in a state of flux. Maritime links across the Irish Sea to the LBA hillforts off Ireland are also explored to see whether they are both part of a wider region with a westward focus. This presentation seeks to contextualise these hilltop sites place in society, furthering our understanding of the LBA as a transitional time when people were attempting to create stability in a changing world. 8 Eleanor de Spretter-Yates (University of Liverpool) Personal Appearance and Identity in Later Prehistory: Bronze Age and Iron Age Razor Blades The previous two decades have witnessed the growth of a body of archaeological scholarship focused on ancient identity (e.g., Chapman 2000; Fowler 2004; Brück 2006; Croucher 2012; Giles 2012; Harrison-Buck and Hendon 2018; Bruck 2019). Archaeologists, finding Western notions of identity unsatisfactory for the interpretation of ancient - especially prehistoric - lifeways, increasingly argue in favour of various forms of relational identity (that is, identity formed through relationships with other people, and both material and immaterial units) (ibid). This identity-centric approach to archaeology has highlighted the need to build varied, evidence-based approaches to construct nuanced interpretations of ancient lifeways. Razor blades are an especially interesting phenomenon of material culture because their relationship to identity is twofold. First, razors have the potential to act as symbols or metaphors for particular identity constructs, perhaps as items that form relational links among groups, playing the role of mnemonic device, or even developing life histories, agencies and personhoods of their own. Second, razors have the power to impact directly on a person’s physiognomic identity. They are essential to behaviours and practices that can quite literally alter the way in which a person appears to the rest of the world, whether through the dramatic removal of head and facial hair, the less obvious removal of underarm, leg and body hair, or even through the use of blades for scarification and tattooing practices. This link between razors and personal appearance adds another dimension to their association with personhood – in this case as an object that connects intimately with the construction of the living body and of physical identities through personal appearance. In this paper I will explore the deposition of Bronze Age and Iron Age razor blades, to discuss how their placement in contexts such as graves, hoards, and settlements can contribute to a wider understanding of ancient identity. 9 Beverley Still (Durham University) Death is Not the End: Reassessing the treatment of the human body and associated funerary practices in Britain and Ireland from 1200 – 400 BC The aim of my PhD research and the subject of this paper is to establish a funerary context for the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age in Britain and Ireland to produce a clearer understanding of mortuary practices that took place at this time. It is currently accepted that a major shift in burial methods occurred in the late Bronze Age in Britain, from a cremation rite to a largely invisible one, which continued into the Early Iron Age. I will look at the mortuary evidence from 1200 – 400 BC and will challenge the accepted norm that the dead were primarily disposed of in an archaeologically invisible way.