This thesis studies the use and development of anthropomorphic iconography in Iron Age Gaul, up to the beginning of the Roman period. The principal focus is on freestanding human imagery. Art, and in particular religious art, is for many societies a critical feature in the definition of cultural identity. It is the contention of this study, therefore, that a better understanding of the changes in the iconography of this period will furnish us with a better comprehension of changes within Iron Age societies themselves. In particular, it is considered whether the anthropomorphic representation of gods is essentially a post-conquest phenomenon, or whether post-conquest religious art built upon earlier, Iron Age traditions. In order to assess these aspects three case study areas (Armorica, Central Gaul and South-West Gaul) were selected on the basis of concentrations of images in these areas. In each of these areas the depiction of anthropomorphic and associated imagery on other media, such as metalwork, is assessed in order to identify any regional trends. In addition free-standing human imagery of the same period from regions outside Gaul is considered in order to identify any wider trends. The free-standing human images of Gaul are then assessed in relation to each other and this data. As a result of this assessment two principal groups were identified. The first is an Early group, produced near the beginning of the period, quite naturalistic in appearance and frequently associated with burial sites. The second much larger Torso group, dates to the late Iron Age with the images depicting a simplified human form. Both groups are considered in relation to the social changes taking place at the time of their production and use.

This thesis examines the whole range of archaeological material available for the period, from burials, votive hoards and settlements, to reconstruct the long-term social development of that area. The first section deals with the representativity of the material from the three contexts to establish the biases in retrieval of information from the potential for social inferences. The second section elaborates the chronological, spatial and arftefactual relationships among the depositional contexts, to provide a basis for an integrated analysis of contexts. The third section documents the long-term social changes observable in burial practices, votive deposits and settlements. It is concluded from the changing relations within and between contexts that these societies evolved in a series of social and economic cycles of growth and decline in production and consumption. This has implications for the study of pre-capitalist forms of growth and wealth accumulation and also for our understanding of the fall of the western Roman Empire and the Germanic migrations to Britain.

No / Who are the Celts? Where did they come from? Did the tribes of Iron Age Scotland really belong to a 'European Community' of Celts? What did it mean to be Celtic? In this fascinating book, the results of modern archaeology are used, alongside earlier finds and the historical sources, to illuminate this important but surprisingly neglected period of Scottish history. In this new edition of a classic work, Ian Armit explores the prehistoric world of the Celts, from around 1000 BC to AD 500. Fully illustrated with colour photographs, maps and diagrams, the book covers ethnicity and identity, daily life, Celtic art, the Druids, brochs, hillforts and Celtic warfare and the clash with Rome.

No / Brochs are one of the ultimate expressions of regional diversity in the British Iron Age, a geographically restricted, monumental and complex variant of the roundhouse. They are the best-preserved Iron Age dwellings in Britain if not Europe, often requiring the visitor to duck to avoid the lintel as they enter the building, and yet too often they have been sidelined as local curiosities in wider narratives of the period. This trend has been bucked in recent years in the specialist literature, with more theoretically-informed interpretations; here Armit sets out to place broch studies before a wider audience.

No / The aim of this session was to explore the nature and impact of cultural encounters in Iron Age Europe. In particular, our focus was on those regions occupying the boundaries between the urbanising centres of Mediterranean Europe and the ‘barbarian’ societies to the north. The session drew on a core of papers from the current ENTRANS Project, funded by HERA and the European Commission, which is examining Iron Age cultural encounters in the East Alpine region from the perspectives of art, landscape and the body: these presentations outlined some of the new approaches and techniques being applied by the ENTRANS Project team, and discussed preliminary results.

The thesis examines the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age, i.e. the periods from Late Helladic IIIC (LHIIIC) to Protogeometric (PG) ( 1200-900 BC) in two areas of the Greek Mainland, the Argolid and Phokis-East Lokris. The Argolid, and in particular the Argive plain, which included among others the citadel of Mycenae, could be described as the core area of the Mycenaean world par excellence, while Phokis -East Lokris could be conventionally thought to belong to the Mycenaean periphery, since no palatial establishment was ever developed in the area. Through the comparative study of the evidence from the two areas, the different course of their post-palatial development is studied, and the factors that affected this development are carefully examined and discussed. In particular, the thesis investigates whether and how the different Mycenaean past of the two areas, and more specifically the different role of each one of them in the Mycenaean world affected their evolution in the period not only immediately after the palatial collapse but also in the transition to the Early Iron Age. The analysis of all the published evidence from LHIIIC to PG period (settlement remains, burials and cult evidence) offers a detailed view of the occupation of the areas in each phase of the transitional period and helps us gain a general, long-term understanding of settlement patterns, burial customs, cult practices and material culture. The study of continuity and changes in all these aspects also allows us to follow the socio-political evolution. In general, it is shown that the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age was experienced very differently in each of the two areas under examination. The long-term view of the evidence as adopted by the present study, bridges the divide that scholarly literature has created between the two eras, while at the same time places the two areas in the general context of the Aegean. It also takes into account the significant role that external factors such as trade contacts or population movements played in this crucial period. Overall, this study stresses the individuality of each area and of each site of the Greek mainland, and demonstrates the complex historical reality of the transitional period and its many different components. The final aim of the thesis is to enlighten the transformation process that two different areas of the Greek mainland underwent from the post-palatial times until the beginning of the Early Iron Age, a process believed to carry the seeds for the rise of the most typical political formation of ancient Greece, the polis.

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This dissertation examines the relationship between selected Iron Age cultic sites found in the land of Canaan and their material cultures. The resulting data allows the creation of tentative paradigms reflecting the material culture found in Iron Age temples, chapels, votive shrines, and offertory shrines. The paradigms are then applied to Megiddo 2081, concluding that it was a chapel and not a mere corner shrine. After an introductory chapter, chapter 2 surveys the history of research on the investigation of cult centers in ancient Palestine. This chapter traces the maturation of archaeological investigation of the Canaanite and Israelite cult centers by biblical and Syro-Palestinian archeologists of the twentieth century. Chapter 3 surveys the material culture of the Iron Age cult centers found at Shean strata VI-V, Sarepta Shrines 1 and 2, Hazor 3283, Khirbat al-Mudayna, Tell Qasile temples 319, 200, 131 and 300, and the cultic room at Taanach. Chapter 4 established definitions for a "temple," a "chapel," and "shrine" based upon the architectural grandeur of the buildings. The chapter also discusses the presence of jewelry in a cultic matrix concluding that these finds indicate that an idol may have stood in the cult center. Finally, the chapter develops tentative artifactual paradigms for a temple, a chapel, an offertory shrine, and a votive shrine. Chapter 5 applies the tentative paradigms to Megiddo 2081 where the architecture is uncertain. The paradigms show that the cultic assemblage at Megiddo 2081 resembles most closely a chapel assemblage. A concluding chapter summarizes the dissertation. The dissertation also has five appendices. Appendix 1 establishes a relative chronology and valid loci from Beth Shean. Appendix 2 provides a listing of the artifacts according to provenance in the order of the database artifact number. Appendix 3 groups the artifacts according to loci. Appendix 4 contains the plates which illustrate the arguments of the dissertation. Appendix 5 has tables which show the statistical similarities between the paradigms and Megiddo 2081.