Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T03:25:43.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Fancy Objects’ in the British Iron Age: Why Decorate?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2013

Jody Joy
Jody Joy
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory & Europe, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A survey and new perspectives of Celtic or La Tène art from Britain is presented. Following Spratling, Celtic art is defined as ‘ornament or pattern and animal/human/supernatural images in metal and other media’. Regional and temporal variations in the type and usage of decorated artefacts are summarised. Three case studies, made of different media, are presented: metal scabbards, bone and antler weaving combs, and pottery. By asking the question ‘why decorate?’ it is argued that the decision to decorate an artefact can affect its life history, marking it out from undecorated artefacts of the same type. Rather than serving a single function, decoration was employed to serve multiple social goals throughout the Iron Age. Different forms of social expression, such as feasting, elaborate display, or weaving, are significant at any one time or place. It is argued that decorated artefacts often played a significant role in these different social arenas. Contrary to many past discussions, decorated artefacts in media other than metal are demonstrated to have been important in negotiations of social power and cosmology.

Résumé

On présente une étude et de nouvelles perspectives de l'art celte et de la Tène de Grande-Bretagne. Après Spratling, l'art celte a été défini comme un ‘décor ou un motif et des images animales/humaines/surnaturelles en métal et autres matières’. On résume les variations régionales et temporelles dans le type et l'usage des objets décorés. On présente trois études de cas, fabriqués dans des matériaux différents: des étuis en métal, des peignes à tisser en os et bois de cerf, et de la poterie. En posant la question: pourquoi décorer? on argumente que la décision de décorer un objet peut affecter l'histoire de sa vie, le distinguant des objets non décorés de même type. Plutôt que d'avoir une seule fonction, le décor était employé pour satisfaire à de multiples buts sociaux pendant tout l'âge du fer. Différentes formes d'expression sociale, telles que festins, parades élaborées ou tissage, sont significatives à tout moment ou lieu donné. On argumente que les objets décorés ont souvent joué un rôle déterminant dans ces diverses arênes sociales. Il s'avère que contrairement à beaucoup de discussions dans le passé, les objets décorés en des matières autres que le métal étaient importants dans les négociations impliquant pouvoir social et cosmologie.

Zussamenfassung

Dieser Beitrag präsentiert einen Überblick über und neue Perspektiven auf Keltische oder Latène-Kunst aus Großbritannien. Mit Spratling wird Keltische Kunst definiert als „ornament or pattern and animal/human/supernatural images in metal and other media‟. Regionale und zeitliche Variationen in Typen und Nutzung verzierter Artefakte wird diskutiert. Drei Fallstudien an unterschiedlichen Medien werden präsentiert: Metallscheiden, Webkämme aus Knochen und Geweih, sowie Keramik. Anhand der Frage „Warum verzieren?‟ wird argumentiert, dass die Entscheidung ein Artefakt zu verzieren dessen Biographie verändern kann, indem es dieses von unverzierten Objekten des gleichen Typs abhebt. Statt nur einer einzigen Funktion zu dienen, wurde Verzierung während der Eisenzeit für vielfältige soziale Ziele eingesetzt. Verschiedene soziale Ausdrucksformen wie Feste, aufwändige Zurschaustellung oder Weben sind zu einem gegebenen Zeitpunkt und an einem gegebenen Ort jeweils bedeutungstragend. Es wird argumentiert, dass verzierte Artefakte oft eine signifikante Rolle auf diesen verschiedenen sozialen Schauplätzen spielten. Im Gegensatz zu vielen früheren Diskussionen wird gezeigt, dass auch verzierte Artefakte, die aus einem anderen Medium als Metall bestehen, von großer Bedeutung waren beim Aushandeln von sozialer Macht und von Kosmologie.

Resumen

Este trabajo presenta un estudio sobre y nuevas perspectivas del arte céltico o La Tène británico. De acuerdo con Spratling, el arte céltico se define como ‘adorno o diseño e imégenes animales/humanas/sobrenaturales en metal y otros medios’. Se resumen las variaciones regionales y temporales en el tipo y utilización de objetos decorados, y se presentan tres ejemplos, en medios diferentes: vainas de metal, peines de tejedor en hueso y cuerno, y cerámica. A través de la pregunta ‘¿por qué decorar?’ se argumenta que la decisión de decorar un objeto puede afectar su “vida”, destacándolo de otros objetos del mismo tipo no decorados. Más que para servir una única función, la decoración fue empleaba para múltiples objetivos sociales a lo largo de la Edad del Hierro. Diferentes formas de expresión social, tales como banquetes, elaborados despliegues, o tejidos, son importantes en momentos o lugares concretos. Se argumenta que los artefactos con decoración a menudo tuvieron un papel significativo en estos distintos ruedos sociales. Contrariamente a lo que se ha dicho en muchas discusiones previas, se demuestra que los artefactos decorados en materiales que no son metal fueron importantes elementos en las negociaciones de poder social y cosmología.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 77 , 2011 , pp. 205 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, D. 1958. Belgic coins as illustrations of life in the late pre-Roman Iron Age of Britain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 24, 43–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldhouse-Green, M. 2006. Metaphors, meaning and money: contextualising some symbols on Iron Age coins. In de Jersey, P. (ed.), Celtic Coinage: new discoveries, new discussion, 29–38. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S 1532Google Scholar
Barrett, J. C., Freeman, P. W. M. & Woodward, A. 2000. Cadbury Castle, Somerset: the later prehistoric and early historic archaeology. London: English Heritage Archaeological Report 20Google Scholar
Bradley, R. 1998. The Passage of Arms: an archaeological analysis of prehistoric hoard and votive deposits (2nd edn). Oxford: OxbowGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. 2009. Image and Audience: rethinking prehistoric art. Oxford: University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brailsford, J.W. 1975. The Polden Hill Hoard, Somerset. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 41, 222–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewster, T.C.M. 1980. The Excavation of Garton and Wetwang Slacks. Wintringham: East Riding Archaeological Research Committee Prehistoric Excavation Report 2Google Scholar
Campbell, S.F. 2001. The captivating agency of art: many ways of seeing. In Pinney, C. & Thomas, N. (eds), Beyond Aesthetics: art and technologies of enchantment, 117–36. Oxford: BergGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S.F. 2002. The Art of Kula. Oxford: BergGoogle Scholar
Champion, S. 1985. Production and exchange in early Iron Age central Europe. In Champion, T.C. & Megaw, J.V.S. (eds), Settlement and Society: aspects of west European history in the first millennium BC, 133–60. Leicester: University PressGoogle Scholar
Coles, J. & Minnitt, S. 1995. ‘Industrious and fairly civilised’. The Glastonbury Lake Village. Taunton: Somerset Levels ProjectGoogle Scholar
Creighton, J. 2000. Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain. Cambridge: University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowfoot, E. 1991. The textiles. In Stead, (ed.) 1991a, 119–25Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. 1984. Danebury: an Iron Age Hillfort in Hampshire volume 2 the excavations, 1969–1978: the finds. London: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 52Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. 2005. Iron Age Communities in Britain (4th edn). London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Cunliffe, B. & Poole, C. 1991. Danebury an Iron Age Hillfort in Hampshire volume 5, the excavations, 1979–88: the finds. London: Council for British Archaeology Research Report 73Google Scholar
Davies, J.A. 1996. Where eagles dare: the Iron Age of Norfolk. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 62, 63–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, J.L. & Spratling, M. 1976. The Severn Sisters hoard: a centenary study. In Boon, G.C. & Lewis, J.M. (eds), Welsh Antiquity: essays mainly on prehistoric topics presented to H. N. Savory upon his retirement as Keeper of Archaeology, 121–47. Cardiff: National Museum of WalesGoogle Scholar
Davis, M. & Gwilt, A. 2008. Material, style and identity in first century AD metalwork, with particular reference to the Severn Sisters Hoard. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 146–84Google Scholar
De Navarro, J.M. 1952. The Celts in Britain and their art. In Knowles, M.D. (ed.), The Heritage of Early Britain, 56–82. London: BellGoogle Scholar
Dent, J. 1985. Three cart burials from Wetwang, Yorkshire. Antiquity 59, 85–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, T.M. 2005. Symbols of protection: the significance of animal-ornamented shields in early Anglo-Saxon England. Medieval Archaeology 49, 109–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earwood, C. 1993. Domestic Wooden Artefact in Britain and Ireland from Neolithic to Viking Times. Exeter: University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, C. 1989. Perishables and worldly goods – artefact decoration and classification in the light of wetlands research. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 8, 179–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A.P. 1984. The deposition of La Tène Iron Age metalwork in watery contexts in southern England. In Cunliffe, B. & Miles, D. (eds), Aspects of the Iron Age in Central Southern Britain, 178–90. Oxford: University of Oxford Committee for ArchaeologyGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A.P. 1997. Archaeological Excavations on the Route of the A27 Westhampnett Bypass, West Sussex, 1992. Volume 2: the cemeteries. Salisbury: Wessex Archaeology Report 12Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A.P. 2005. Gifts for the golden gods: Iron Age hoards of torques and coins. In Haselgrove, C. & Wigg-Wolf, D. (eds), Iron Age Coinage and Ritual Practice, 157–82. Mainz: Studien zu Fundmunzen der Antike, Band 20Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A.P. 2007. Dancing with dragons: fantastic animals in the earlier Celtic art of Iron Age Britain. In Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 339–57Google Scholar
Foster, J. 1977. Bronze Boar Figurines in Iron Age and Roman Britain. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, J. 1980. The Iron Age Moulds of Gussage All Saints. London: British Museum Occasional Paper 12Google Scholar
Foster, J. 1995. Metalworking in the British Iron Age: the evidence from Weelsby Avenue, Grimsby. In Raftery, B. (ed.), Sites and Sights of the Iron Age, 49–60. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 56Google Scholar
Fox, C. 1946. A Find of the Early Iron Age from Llyn Cerrig Bach, Anglesey. Cardiff: National Museum of WalesGoogle Scholar
Fox, C. 1958. Pattern and Purpose: a survey of early Celtic Art in Britain. Cardiff: National Museum of WalesGoogle Scholar
Frankenstein, S. & Rowlands, M.J. 1978. The internal structure and regional context of early Iron Age society in south-western Germany. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 15, 73–112Google Scholar
Garrow, D. 2008. The time and space of Celtic Art: interrogating the ‘Technologies of Enchantment’ database. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 15–39Google Scholar
Garrow, D., Gosden, C. & Hill, J.D. (eds). 2008. Rethinking Celtic Art. Oxford: OxbowCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrow, D., Gosden, C., Hill, J.D. & Bronk Ramsey, C. 2010. Dating Celtic Art: a major radiocarbon dating programme of Iron Age and Early Roman metalwork in Britain. Archaeological Journal 166, 79–123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gell, A. 1992. The technology of enchantment and the enchantment of technology. In Coote, J. and Shelton, A. (eds), Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics, 40–67. Oxford: ClarendonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gell, A. 1998. Art and Agency. An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: ClarendonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, M.C. 2000. ‘Open-weave, Close-knit’. Archaeologies of Identity in the Later Prehistoric Landscape of East Yorkshire. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of SheffieldGoogle Scholar
Giles, M. 2008. Seeing red: the aesthetics of martial objects in the British and Irish Iron Age. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 59–76Google Scholar
Gosden, C. & Hill, J.D. 2008. Introduction: re-integrating ‘Celtic’ art. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 1–14.Google Scholar
Grimes, W.F. 1952. The La Tène art style in British early Iron Age pottery. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 10, 160–75Google Scholar
Griffiths, W.E. 1951. Decorated rotary querns from Wales and Ireland. Ulster Journal of Archaeology 14, 49–61Google Scholar
Guido, M. 1978. The Glass Beads of the Prehistoric and Roman Periods in Britain and Ireland. London: Thames & HudsonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, D.W. 2007. The Archaeology of Celtic Art. London: RoutledgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haselgrove, C. & Moore, T. (eds). 2007. The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond. Oxford: OxbowGoogle Scholar
Henderson, J. 1989. The scientific analysis of ancient glass and its archaeological interpretation. In Henderson, J. (ed.), Scientific Analysis in Archaeology and its Interpretation, 30–62. Oxford: Oxford Committee for Archaeology Monograph 19Google Scholar
Herbert, E.W. 1993. Iron, Gender and Power: rituals of transformation in African societies. Bloomington: Indiana University PressGoogle Scholar
Hill, J. D. 1995a. Ritual and Rubbish in the Iron Age of Wessex: a study on the formation of a specific archaeological record. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 242Google Scholar
Hill, J.D. 1995b. How should we study Iron Age societies and hillforts? A contextual study from southern England. In Hill, J.D. & Cumberpatch, C.G. (eds), Different Iron Ages: studies on the Iron Age in temperate Europe, 45–66. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 602CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, J. D. 2003. Iron Age and early Roman pottery. In Evans, C. (ed.), Power and Island Communities: excavations at Wardy Hill ringwork, Coveney, Ely, 145–84. Cambridge: East Anglian Archaeology 103Google Scholar
Hill, J.D. 2006. Are we any closer to understanding how later Iron Age societies worked (or did not work)? In Haselgrove, C. (ed.), Celtes et Gaulois. L'Archéologie face à l'Histoire. Les mutations de la fin de l'âge du Fer, 169–79. Glux-en-Glenne: Bibracte, Centre Archéologique EuropéenGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, R. 1996. British Iron Age Coins in the British Museum. London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Hodder, I. & Hedges, J.W. 1997. ‘Weaving combs’: – Their typology and distribution with some introductory remarks on date and function. In Collis, J. (ed.), The Iron Age in Britain: a review, 17–28. Sheffield: University of SheffieldGoogle Scholar
Hunter, F. 2006. Art in later Iron Age society. In Haselgrove, C. (ed.), Celtes et Gaulois, l'Archéologie face à L'Histoire, 4: les mutations de la fin de l'âge du Fer. Actes de la table ronde de Cambridge, 7–8 juillet 2005. 93–115. Glux-en-Glenne: Bibracte, Centre Archéologique EuropéenGoogle Scholar
Hunter, F. 2008. Celtic art in Roman Britain. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 129–45. Oxford: OxbowGoogle Scholar
Hutcheson, N.C.G. 2004. Later Iron Age Norfolk: metalwork, landscape and society. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 361CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutcheson, N. 2008. An archaeological investigation of later Iron Age Norfolk: analysing hoarding patterns across the landscape. In Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 358–70Google Scholar
Jackson, R. 1990. Camerton: the Late Iron Age and early Roman metalwork. London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Jacobsthal, P. 1944. Early Celtic art. Oxford: University PressGoogle Scholar
Jope, E.M. 1971. The Waldalgesheim master. In Boardman, J. (ed.), The European Community in Later Prehistory, 167–80. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Jope, M. 1995. The social implications of Celtic art. In Green, M.J. (ed.), The Celtic World, 376–410. Routledge: LondonGoogle Scholar
Jope, E.M. 2000. Early Celtic Art in the British Isles. Oxford: ClarendonGoogle Scholar
Joy, J. 2008a. Reflections on the Iron Age: biographies of mirrors. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Archaeology, University of SouthamptonGoogle Scholar
Joy, J. 2008b. Reflections on Celtic Art: a re-examination of the mirror style. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 78–99Google Scholar
Joy, J. 2009. Reinvigorating object biography: reproducing the drama of object lives. World Archaeology 41(4), 540–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joy, J. 2010. Iron Age Mirrors: a biographical approach. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 518CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, R. 2008. Random coincidences Or: the return of the Celtic to Iron Age Britain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 74, 69–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, A. 1990. Hebridean pottery: problems of definition, chronology, presence and absence. In Armit, I. (ed.), Beyond the Brochs, 108–30. Edinburgh: University PressGoogle Scholar
Leins, I. 2008. What can be inferred from the regional stylistic diversity of Iron Age coinage? In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 100–112.Google Scholar
Lowery, P.R., Savage, R.D.A. & Wilkins, R.L. 1971. Scriber, graver, scorper, tracer: notes on experiments in bronzeworking technique. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 37, 167–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, P. 2007. Perspectives on insular La Tène art. In Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 329–38Google Scholar
MacGregor, M. 1976. Early Celtic Art in North Britain. Leicester: University PressGoogle Scholar
Marshall, Y.M. 2008. The social lives of lived and inscribed objects: a Lapita perspective. Journal of the Polynesian Society 117(1), 59–101Google Scholar
McLaren, D. & Hunter, F. 2008. New aspects of rotary querns in Scotland. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 138, 105–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Megaw, J.V.S. & Megaw, M.R. 1990. The Basse-Yutz find: masterpieces of Celtic art: the 1927 discovery in the British Museum. London: Society of AntiquariesGoogle Scholar
Megaw, M.R. & Megaw, J.V.S. 2001. Celtic Art: from its beginnings to the Book of Kells (2nd edn). London: Thames & HudsonGoogle Scholar
Percival, S. 1999. Iron Age pottery in Norfolk. In Davies, J. & Williams, T. (eds), Land of the Iceni, 173–84. Norwich: Centre for East Anglian StudiesGoogle Scholar
Randsborg, K. 2002. Wetland hoards. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 21(4), 415–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowlands, M. 1971. The archaeological interpretation of prehistoric metalworking. World Archaeology 3(1), 210–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowlands, M. & Warnier, J.P. 1993. The magical production of iron in the Cameroon Grassfields. In Shaw, T., Sinclair, P., Andah, B. & Okpoko, A. (eds), The Archaeology of Africa: food, metals and towns, 512–49. London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, P.R. 1997. Iron Technology in East Africa: symbolism, science, and archaeology. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University PressGoogle Scholar
Scott, S. 2006. Art and the archaeologist. World Archaeology 38(4), 628–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sealey, P. R. 2006. Two decorated Iron Age mirror finds from Essex. In Ottaway, P. (ed.), A Victory Celebration: papers on the archaeology of Colchester and late Iron Age–Roman Britain presented to Philip Crummy, 11–18. Colchester: Friends of Colchester Archaeological TrustGoogle Scholar
Sealey, P.R. 2007. A Late Iron Age Warrior Burial from Kelvedon, Essex. Chelmsford: East Anglian Archaeology 118Google Scholar
Sellwood, L. 1984. Objects of bone and antler. In Cunliffe, 1984, 371–95Google Scholar
Sharples, N. 1991. Maiden Castle: excavations and field survey 1985–6. London: English Heritage Archaeological Report 19Google Scholar
Sharples, N. 2008. Comment I. Contextualising Iron Age art. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 203–13Google Scholar
Spratling, M. 1972. Southern British Decorated Bronzes of the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of LondonGoogle Scholar
Spratling, M. 1979. The debris of metal working. In Wainwright, G.J. (ed.), Gussage All Saints: an Iron Age settlement in Dorset, 125–49. London: Department of the Environment Archaeological Report 10Google Scholar
Spratling, M. 2008. On the aesthetics of the Ancient Britons. In Garrow, et al. (eds) 2008, 185–202Google Scholar
Stead, I. M. 1976. The earliest burials of the Aylesford culture. In Sieveking, G. de G., Longworth, I.M. & Wilson, K.E. (eds), Problems in Economic and Social Archaeology, 401–16. London: DuckworthGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 1979. The Arras Culture. York: Yorkshire Philosophical SocietyGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 1985. The Battersea Shield. London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 1991a. Iron Age Cemeteries in East Yorkshire. London: English HeritageGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 1991b. The Snettisham treasure: excavations in 1990. Antiquity 65, 447–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 1996. Celtic Art in Britain before the Roman Conquest (2nd edn). London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Stead, I.M. 2006. British Iron Age Swords and Scabbards. London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Sørensen, M.L.S. 1997. Reading dress: the construction of social categories and identities in Bronze Age Europe. Journal of European Archaeology 5(1), 93–114CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuohy, T. 1999. Prehistoric Combs of Antler and Bone. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 285Google Scholar
Wells, P.S. 2007. Weapons, ritual, and communication in late Iron Age Northern Europe. In Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 468–77Google Scholar
Wells, P. 2008. Image and Response in Early Europe. London: DuckworthGoogle Scholar
Woodward, A. 2002. Inclusions, impressions and interpretation. In Woodward, A. & Hill, J.D. (eds), Prehistoric Britain: the ceramic basis, 106–18. Oxford: OxbowGoogle Scholar
Worrell, S. 2008. Detecting the later Iron Age: a view from the Portable Antiquities Scheme. In Haselgrove, & Moore, (eds) 2007, 371–88Google Scholar
Yates, D. & Bradley, R. 2010. Still water, hidden depths: the deposition of Bronze Age metalwork in the English Fenland. Antiquity 84, 405–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar