Classical and Hellenistic Greece

The Parthenon in Athens

The images of gold and ivory, which were set up in the years after 430 BCE in the temple of Zeus at Olympia and in the Parthenon in Athens, required new interiors because they were far larger than life. In Olympia, the temple had already been built thirty years earlier, whilst in Athens the time-gap was only about ten years. Here, the extensive interior with columns running all around the image of Athena Parthenos underlined the powerful effect of this image, while the conventional positioning in the temple at Olympia created a conflict between image and interior, which later found its expression in the slightly ironical statement that Zeus when he rose from his throne, would break the roof of the temple.

The solution found for the Parthenon was crucial for the subsequent period, as is shown by the string of varied solutions it inspired in many temples of the late fifth and fourth centuries BCE. The temple in Epidauros is a good example, as are the temples of Athena in Tegea or that of Zeus in Nemea. The surrounding colonnades underlined the autonomous manifestation of the interior, which was also expressed by employing other architectural orders or by their close connection with the walls.

Whilst during the archaic and early classical period the columns in the interior of the temples did not usually differ from those of the outer order, and thus emphasized the strong coherence of the entire building, the interior later became a sort of precious room, introverted and closed around itself like a small treasure chest.

At the same time, new forms and effects were used to attract visitors, as is already visible in the late Archaic Temple of Athena at Paestum in which Ionic columns were used in front of the cella in contrast to the Doric columns that surrounded the rest of the exterior. In the various temples of Athens these zones of transition later came to be emphasized by means of the inner friezes.

The overwhelming aesthetic effect of the cult images in the Classical period was probably the result of the increase in ostensive power demonstrations in these times, in which these images were used by the cities. The best-known example is the Athena Parthenos, laden with gold plates which formed part of the treasure of the Athenian confederacy, and therefore had to be weighed each year. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was an expression of the new position of Elis, now organized as the main polis connected to the sanctuary; the situation was probably similar at Epidauros with the temple and image of Asklepios. Besides these new forms, however, the old images of the gods still existed and kept the old tradition alive.

These new forms were crucial for further developments. The isolation of the interior of the temples corresponded to certain changes in the appearance of the images of the deities themselves. It has often been observed that, particularly in the fourth century BCE, these images seem to be concentrating on themselves, giving the viewer the impression that they are tranquil, quietly reposing in themselves. The experience of epiphany was thus created in a new way, causing the viewer to appear even more surprised by contrast. This seems to agree with the idea that the images should not be more than life-sized. The statue of Aphrodite by Praxiteles, which was commissioned by the citizens of Knidos, showed the goddess naked for the first time, as far as we know. Whether it was placed in a round building depends on the interpretation of a possible copy in the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli. But tholoi with their circular cellae, which became common in this period, were certainly well suited to bring out the new quality of these effects (Despinis 1979, 2005; Elsner 1996; Scheer 2000; Fehr 2001; Nick 2002; Mertens 2006).

A special case, the temple of Eshmun in Sidon, provides us with a significant sidelight on Greek understanding. The outer form follows the Greek prototype to the letter, but the image is enclosed in a sort of canopy with columns following Iranian models. The details are not well preserved, but in contrast to the Greek models which aim to create distance between image and visitors, the interior of the temple at Sidon allows the image to dominate (Stucky 2005).

The Hellenistic period is characterized by different strategies to emphasize the cult image. Even royal residential towns often feature only small temples with corresponding interiors. The Pergamene kings never had – or never carried out – the idea of transforming the ancient temple of Athena on their acropolis into a magnificent building based on the Athenian model, although they did imitate this model in some other respects and sufficient financial resources were certainly available. The same is true even of Alexandria and the Ptolemies.

The splendor of the interior was achieved by means other than size. Often there are huge bases with groups of images, as in Lykosura or Klaros. Often, images of rulers were added, such as in the Temple of Hera at Pergamon or in the Temple of Dionysos at Teos. The appearance was also enriched by canopies, various forms of interior boundaries, honorary statues and mosaic floors. In a particularly unusual case, Antiochus IV dedicated a purple curtain to shroud the statue of Zeus in the temple at Olympia. This undoubtedly theatrically increased the epiphanic effect. The new temple of the poleis were, however, often very large, such as those in Magnesia on the M. for Artemis or for Apollo at Klaros.

No dominant pattern emerges in the design of the interior spaces at this time. Everything seems to have been possible, from rich colonnades lining the walls, as in the temple of Leto at the Xanthian Letoon, to the simple smooth inner walls. Even the Archaic and early Classical concept of rows of columns that lead into the interior towards the cult image was used again (with some modifications) in the temples of Artemis at Sardis and Magnesia, where the anteroom was more strongly structured with various forms of transitions and barriers (Cain 1995; Faulstich 1997; Bergbach-Bitter 2008; Mylonopoulos 2011).

Discovery of “Otzi the Iceman” (1991)

Brown-eyed, bearded, furrow faced, and tired: this is how Ötzi the Iceman might have looked, according to the latest reconstruction based on 20 years of research and investigations.

Realized by two Dutch experts, Alfons and Adrie Kennis, the model was produced with the latest in forensic mapping technology that uses three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull as well as infrared and tomographic images.


In 1991 two hikers discovered the frozen body of a Bronze Age man in glacier ice in the Similaun Pass in the Tyrol Alps between Austria and Italy. Modern archaeological and biological forensic techniques have provided a wealth of information about the life and death of this mummified 5,000-yearold person.

"Otzi the Iceman," "Similaun man," or just "Iceman" was discovered by chance. At first the hikers and authorities thought he was of very recent provenance, but this serendipitous find turned out to be the oldest complete human body ever found. Over the next few years, although now carefully preserved at the University of Innsbruck's Institute of Prehistory and Early History, the Iceman was examined by numerous international scientific experts, for twenty-minute intervals, each adding their expertise, building up as complete a picture of his life and death during the Bronze Age as evidence allowed.

The Iceman was discovered at an altitude of 3,200 meters, making him not only the oldest body to be found in Europe, but also the highest prehistoric find as well. His body had been air dried before being enveloped by the glacier about 5,300 years ago. He was between thirty and forty years old, based on dental evidence, and he was 156-160 centimeters (5 feet 2 inches) high. His brain, muscles, heart, liver, and digestive organs were in good condition, although his lungs were blackened-probably from smoke from open fires. Eight of his ribs had been fractured, some of these had healed and others were healing when he died. Tattoos were found on both sides of his lower spine and on his left calf and right ankle, comprising two-centimeter-long parallel vertical blue lines. On his inner knee there was a tattoo of a blue cross. Most of his fingernails, except one, had dropped off. Analysis of the remaining one indicated that he had used his hands to work, and that he had also been ill, based on reduced nail growth, at four, three-, and two-month intervals before his death. DNA analysis of his tissue confirmed that he was of central or northern European origin.

The Iceman died with a variety of clothing and other possessions made from organic materials that usually do not survive. In this case, because they had been frozen, they had been preserved. These were the everyday belongings of a man from the late Stone Age, which, until now, had been the subject of speculation and ethnographic analogy. The Iceman's clothing, comprising pouch, loincloth, and leggings, were made from eight different species of animal, were carefully stitched together with sinew, and had been repaired. His coat was deerskin, his hat was bearskin, his calfskin shoes were filled with grass for warmth, and he had an outer cloak of woven grass or reeds. This latter garment was similar to those recorded as being worn by local people as late as the nineteenth century. His clothing did not belong to someone of high social status-evidence that the Iceman was probably a farmer and a shepherd.

The Iceman's equipment is the earliest of its kind to be found in Europe and comprised over 70 artifacts. He carried a small, 9.5-centimeter copper ax, with a yew wood haft and leather binding. He also had an unfinished yew bow, with 14 arrows in a deerskin quiver, only two of which were ready to use, with flint tips and feather fletching. Other artifacts found with the Iceman included a flint knife with a wooden handle and grass string sheath; a hazel and larch wood frame of what was probably a rucksack; a lime wood handle with a sharpened antler tip inserted into one end; a retouching tool for flint scraping; two birch bark containers; a small marble disc on a leather thong; a piece of net; two types of fungus-one a tinder fungus, and the other, on a leather thong, may have been medicinal; other flints, such as a scrapers and awls, and one for making fires; and small quantities of antlers and bones for sharpening into points. Iceman had used a surprisingly large variety of different plants to manufacture his kit. Food evidence included a sloe (a kind of plum) berry, fragments of meat bone from the vertebrae of an ibex, and some cereal grains.

Radiocarbon dates confirmed that Iceman died 5,200 years ago (ca. 3200 BC) at the beginning of the European Bronze Age. The wide variety of wood and animal species used by the Iceman in his tool kit and clothing is impressive. So too are his techniques for working wood, flint, leather, and grasses. In fact, the archaeological evidence revealed more about the Bronze Age world than just the body. However, all of this evidence, and the evidence from his body, particularly his age, diet, diseases, and genetics, greatly enhanced our understanding of the early Bronze Age in Europe. And all of this from a chance discovery that could have disappeared back into the snow again without ever being found.

Further Reading Bortenschlager, S., and K. Oeggl, eds. 2000. The Iceman and his natural environment: Palaeo-botanical results. Vienna, Austria: Springer. Dubowski, M. 1998. Ice mummy: The discovery of a 5,000-year-old man. New York: Random House. Fowler, B. 2001. Iceman: Uncovering the life and times of a prehistoric man found in an alpine glacier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Soggy Balkan relics reveal ancient life

A Greco-Illyrian helmet found at the Cetina River valley in Croatia (University of Birmingham)
Lucy Andrew
ABC

A waterlogged archaeological site in Croatia has given European archaeologists an insight into Bronze Age life.

Researchers from the U.K.'s University of Birmingham, the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split, Croatia have uncovered an underwater site.
The site is in the Cetina River valley in Croatia, which so far has yielded metal, stone and timber artefacts, some dating back to 6000 BC.
Project leader, Dr Vincent Gaffney, director of the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham, is excited about the find.
"The Cetina Valley is certainly the most remarkable site that I have, and will ever, have the privilege of being involved in ... I believe this to be one of the most important archaeological wetlands in Europe," he said.
Balkan archaeologists have long known about the site but it is only now that the British researchers realised its significance.
Initial surveys of the site in October last year yielded artefacts from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.
The Neolithic or New Stone Age was characterised by the use of polished stone tools and weapons; the Bronze Age was when the metal alloy bronze was made by combining copper and tin.
The archaeologists found artefacts including swords, helmets and a Roman dagger and sheath that date back to the Bronze Age. There were also jewellery, axes and spearheads.
The researchers could also see remains of wooden buildings from the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, submerged in the water at the bottom of the valley.
The fact that the site was waterlogged has led to exceptional preservation of the artefacts, said Gaffney.
The river would have been an important source of water for the people who once lived there, Gaffney said. Inhabitants seem to have thrown metal and stone objects into the water deliberately, possibly as an offering to river gods.
Team member and environmental archaeologist Dr David Smith said he planned to examine ancient plant and soil samples from the area.
"Through examination of pollen cores and peat samples from within the basin we can gain a real insight into the everyday life of the people; the food they ate, the crops and animals they kept, and the crafts and activities they pursued."
River sediments will provide information about the Croatian environment over the past 10,000 years, said Smith.
The researchers will go back to the Cetina valley in April or May this year to continue their search for more clues to its past.

The earlier Bronze Age in Ireland II

Stone circle at Beaghmore.

Recent re-examination of the cemeteries indicates a predominance of male burials suggesting a stratified society in which not everyone was accorded the formal rite of cist or pit burial. The rich burial of a young teenage male at Tara, complete with a necklace of jet, amber, bronze, and faience and a bronze dagger and awl, demonstrates, for example, that for some aristocracy was a birthright. Further indication of the wealth to which people might aspire, and the international tenor of the trappings of status, is seen in the corpus of sheet goldwork which includes 85 crescentic gold collars or lunulae, 20 decorated sun-discs, and 2 basketshaped earrings: all types known from Britain and indeed further afield. No doubt bronze objects, such as axes, halberds, and, as we have seen, daggers, belonged to only the richest in society. All that glitters is not gold!

Funerals represented only one facet of ritual activity during the 2nd millennium bc. Communal ceremonial monuments were also created. Although many of these have associated burials, it seems that this was not their primary role, instead the burials may have connected, symbolically, the cycle of human life and death with the cosmological order. In addition to the large embanked enclosures, or henges, which continued to be used into the first few centuries of the second millennium bc, smaller henges and hengiform barrows now appeared throughout the country (indeed, as we shall see, in Ireland the tradition of defining sacred space with a hengiform enclosure continued in various guises into the 1st millennium ad). And, whereas previously henges might have been associated with timber circles and temples, during the 2nd millennium these circles were increasingly made from stone, a development exemplified in the case of Newgrange where the massive pit circle once attached figure-of-eight style to the site was replaced by a great stone circle encircling the mound itself. By their very nature, stone circles are difficult to date but appear to have been built throughout the 2nd millennium bc. Major concentrations occur in Ulster and Munster, with over 90 examples recorded in Cos. Cork and Kerry alone where the dominant type is the ‘recumbent’ circle. Such circles, consisting of five or more stones, are entered between two matching portal stones, the largest in the circle, on the opposing side of which lies the recumbent or axial stone. The axis between the portals and recumbent stone is consistently aligned south-west/north-east, i.e. on the rising and setting sun. Few circles have been excavated. At Drombeg, Co. Cork, five pits were uncovered in the central area. One contained the cremated remains of an adolescent and a sherd of coarse pottery which yielded a date of 1124–794 bc. Similar ‘token’ deposits of cremated human bone were uncovered at Bohonagh and Reanascreena, Co. Cork, and at Cashelkeelty, Co. Kerry. Some of these circles appear to be associated with stone alignments, that is rows of standing stones that can stretch for considerable distances across the countryside.

Analysis has demonstrated that many alignments ‘point’ towards important solar and lunar positions or to places where sun and geography combine to curious affect, as at Lough Inagh, Co. Galway, where the alignment points to a corrie that is illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun during the winter solstice. Alignments may also have defined territorial boundaries across large tracts of open countryside. As in Munster, the stone circles of Ulster are also associated with stone alignments, and this is nowhere better illustrated than at Beaghmore, Co. Tyrone, where seven circles and at least eight alignments comprise one of the most enigmatic archaeological landscapes in Ireland. Unlike the Munster circles, these northern specimens consist of vast quantities of small, portable stones arranged in concentric circles and radial lines. A spectacular group has recently been exposed in cut-away peat at Copney Hill, about 11 km from Beaghmore.

Pollen evidence tells us that these people lived in a still largely forested environment, practising agriculture in clearings on lighter, drier soils, although a general increase in ash from about 2300 bc suggests that forests were lighter than previously. Throughout the course of the 2nd millennium there was progressively more settlement on the uplands. It has been argued that in such a context agriculture was merely an adjunct to the exploitation of the greater ecosystem. So, while the underlying trend is of a steady increase in arable agriculture and increasing reliance on farm produce, the macrofossil evidence indicates that substantial quantities of wild foods continued to be collected. Movement was along trails and droveways and, over boggy ground, on wooden trackways such as those uncovered at Corlea and Annaghbeg, Co. Longford. There are very few settlement sites of the period. Most consist of habitation deposits uncovered during the excavation of multi-period sites with few or no surviving structural remains. A series of possible postholes at Monknewtown, Co. Meath, has been speculatively reconstructed as the outline of a conical, wigwam-type house. There is evidence, however, that the first fulachta fiadh date from around 2300 bc. These are cooking pits where meat was broiled in water-filled, sunken wooden troughs, brought to the boil by having hot stones dropped in. Over 2,000 are known throughout the country and they are an important indicator of the whereabouts of Bronze Age settlement. What are to all intents and purposes identical installations are described in documentary sources of the early medieval period, suggesting extraordinary longevity.

Until recent radiocarbon programmes began to push forward the dates of stone circles and alignments and pull back the dates of fulachta fiadh and widely spaced multivallate hillforts, the archaeology of Middle Bronze Age Ireland (c.1500–900 bc) was dominated by artefact studies. Substantive technological advancements, such as the development of sockets, were made during these centuries. A unique set of stone moulds from Killymaddy, Co. Antrim, bear the matrices of socket-looped spearheads and a dirk or rapier, the first of such weapons in the Irish arsenal, along with tanged knives and a sickle. The problems of mounting a flat axe were overcome by creating axes with side flanges and a stop-ridge which ultimately led to the development of the palstave, principally a woodworker’s tool, which was produced in huge numbers. Indeed, the whole bronze industry had moved onto an altogether more industrial plane, though unfortunately most of the vast quantity of Middle Bronze Age metalwork comprises stray finds. Significant percentages of these, however, come from wet contexts and this suggests that many were votive deposits, with an apparent preference for rivers over and above lakes and bogs. The tools of the bronzesmith’s trade are preserved in a slightly later hoard from Bishopsland, Co. Kildare, and these include among other things a double-sided saw, an anvil, a selection of chisels, bronze socketed hammers, and a vice. This hoard connects the Irish bronze industry with the so-called Taunton Phase of the British Bronze Age, dated to between 1350 and 1200 bc. In addition to the new tool and weapon types, new types of jewellery appeared also, including a variety of twisted gold torcs, or neckrings, and similarly made earrings. Most common, however, are penannular bronze bracelets.

The dearth in burials of this period is compensated for, in some measure, by numerous recent discoveries of settlement sites. At both Ballyveelish (c.1130–810 bc) and Chancellorsland, Co. Tipperary, the habitation area was located within a large oval enclosure (both around 40 m × 30 m) and this suggests that other enclosures of the same size and shape might also date from this period. Although no house structures survived in the excavated part of the Ballyveelish enclosure, a considerable amount of pottery and organic refuse was recovered from the surrounding ditch. Cattle accounted for 43 per cent of the livestock, pig nearly 36 per cent, and sheep/goat 17 per cent, the remainder comprising horse, dog, and red deer. Slaughter patterns suggest that the cattle were reared primarily for beef. Barley and wheat were also grown. The pottery consisted of plain coarse, flat-bottomed ware, probably used for cooking, a type that would dominate the domestic scene until at least the 4th century bc. At Chancellorsland a succession of small oval and sub-rectangular huts was uncovered. Again, there was excellent survival of organic material in the fosse. House plans were also uncovered at Curraghatoor, Co. Tipperary, Lough Gur, Co. Limerick, and Carrigillihy, Co. Cork, and these consist of relatively small circular or oval shaped dwellings around 5 m or 6 m in diameter with walls that are likely to have been of wicker, possibly covered in clay daub or animal skins. At Lough Gur pig dominated the faunal assemblage, with cattle coming in at around 38 per cent. Tillage was also important as attested at Belderg, Co. Mayo, where Caulfield uncovered ‘lazybeds’ in a field system associated with a small round house. With an economy so rooted in the land, O’Sullivan has suggested that wetlands sites, such as those uncovered at Cullyhanna Lough, Co. Armagh, and Lough Eskragh, Co. Tyrone, might only have been seasonally occupied, thus accounting for their comparatively small assemblages.

The earlier Bronze Age in Ireland I

Copper mine on Ross Island, Killarney

On Ross Island, Killarney, Co. Kerry, O’Brien has uncovered the oldest known copper mine in north-western Europe, dating from between 2400 and 2000 bc. Here, arsenical copper was mined from short shafts tunnelled more or less vertically from the surface. Inside these cramped tunnels fires were lit to fracture the parent rock which was then dislodged using stone mauls or hammer stones. It is very difficult to estimate how much ore was extracted from Ross Island, or indeed Mount Gabriel, Co. Cork, which was exploited between about 1700 and 1500 bc, but the work was clearly labour intensive and the resultant copper extremely valuable. Tin may have been mined across the country in Wicklow, or might have been imported from Cornwall in south-west Britain. Combined, these two metals produced bronze.

Associated with the copper mine on Ross Island was Beaker pottery, a fine, often highly decorated, flat-bottomed drinking vessel which is irregularly distributed throughout western Europe where it has a recurring association with the first use of metal. Consequently, the Ross Island assemblage is central to the question of how knowledge of metallurgy first arrived in Ireland. The traditional view connects the spread of the use of copper with ‘Beaker Folk’ whose migrations were revealed in the distribution of their distinctive material assemblage (which includes conical, V-perforated buttons, barbed and tanged arrowheads, and stone archers’ wristguards) and the appearance of copper metallurgy among the furthest outposts of north-western Europe. Many scholars today, however, question the plausibility of such folk movements. Emphasizing the regional diversities throughout north-west Europe in the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, they suggest that rather than people, what spread was a new concept in social organization: the distinctive artefacts are simply internationally recognized symbols of social status. Accordingly, they would argue that the technical know-how required to mine and process copper, and later (c.2200 bc) bronze, could have been passed on by word of mouth along traditional Late Neolithic trade routes.

In Ireland Beaker pottery is often associated with Wedge tombs, built between about 2300 and 2000 bc. Along with embanked enclosures and stone and timber henges, they represent the earliest elements in the lexicon of ritual architecture in Bronze Age Ireland that, over the course of a thousand years, came to include Single Burials, cemetery mounds, standing stones, stone alignments and stone circles, boulder burials, and rock art. With the relative dearth of settlement sites these confusing and often enigmatic monuments have come to dominate our analyses and perception of this period. Though Wedge tombs, of which just over 500 examples are known, are the most numerous Irish megalithic tombs, their origins are shrouded in obscurity. While sharing certain characteristics with Neolithic tombs, their closest parallels are with the allées couvertes of north-western France, and so a connection with that area cannot be ruled out. Wedge tombs have a decidedly western distribution, with notable concentrations in south-western and northern Munster and again along a band curving from north Mayo and Sligo across south Tyrone and into east Donegal. This contrasts with the generally more eastern distribution of the Single Burial tradition of pit and cist burials and introduces the possibility of distinct socio-cultural provinces in early Bronze Age Ireland. Analysis of the mutually distinct Wedge tombs and Single Burials in Munster, for example, suggests to O’Brien that Wedge tomb builders controlled access to ores and distribution of metal, which their Single Burial neighbours in central and eastern Munster could only acquire through barter. Such monopolies led to the emergence of what are known as ‘Big Man’ elites, while down-the-line exchange gave rise to specialized middlemen who must have played a pivotal role in the acquisition of tin, which was not available in Munster.

From the outset (c.2350 bc) there was tremendous variability among the Single Burials which outlasted the use of Wedge tombs by some centuries. During this time the accompanying bowl- and vase-shaped funerary vessels developed from grave good to urn. As the name implies, Bowls are essentially round-bellied pots, highly decorated with impressed and incised ornament that owes much of its inspiration to the Beaker tradition. They are found mainly in the north and east of the country and so complement the distribution of Wedge tombs. The vast majority occur in small, stone-lined cists and more than half accompanied cremated burials. Occasionally, other artefacts such as plano-convex flint knives, leaf-shaped arrowheads, and polished stone artefacts have been found along with Bowls and at Corkey, Co. Antrim, and Carrickinab, Co. Down, riveted bronze daggers were also found. Miniature Bowls (sometimes called Pygmy Cups) are also known. The contemporary Vase Tradition is characterized by tapered bi- and tripartite pots, 11 to 16 cm tall. Handmade, they too are highly decorated and although they share the same northern and eastern distribution, there is a significant grouping in Galway and Mayo. Most Vases have been found with cremated burials and the range of associated grave goods compares to that accompanying Bowls. From around 1900 bc we see the emergence from the indigenous Vase Tradition of two types of large funerary pot (i.e. up to 40 cm tall), the Vase Urn and the Encrusted Urn, types which feature in the burial tradition for about two centuries. They share the stage with two British-inspired urn types, the impressive Cordoned and Collared Urns.

Cordoned Urns are found in simple pits, inverted over the cremated remains of the dead (usually one individual, sometimes more) which were presumably sealed in place with a cloth before the pot was turned upside down. They occur in the east of the country with a particular concentration in the north-east. Associated finds include exotica, such as small oval-shaped bronze knives or razors, which may be symbols of masculinity, and beads of faience, a blue vitreous paste, originating in the Near East. However, the most impressive artefacts to have been found with Cordoned Urns are the so-called battleaxes. Beautifully carved, waisted, and perforated, these stone axes were clearly for ceremonial use and, like the urns, originate in Scotland. Sixty or so burials with Collared Urns have been found in Ireland and these date from between 2000 and 1500 or 1400 bc. Concentrated in the north-east, they too are most frequently found in simple pits, associated grave goods being quite rare. There are noteworthy exceptions, however, as at the Mound of the Hostages, Tara, Co. Meath, where a battleaxe and a riveted bronze dagger were found with a Collared Urn and an inverted Vase.

The forty-plus burials in the Mound of the Hostages at Tara comprise a cemetery mound. As at Tara and Baunogenasraid, Co. Carlow, occasionally Neolithic tumuli were reused as cemetery mounds during the earlier Bronze Age but in other cases, such as at Knockast, Co. Westmeath, new mounds were built. Flat cemeteries are evidently far more difficult to recognize and are usually found by chance during ploughing. Consequently, there has been little concerted excavation of such sites. At Urbalreagh, Co. Antrim, three burials were demarcated by a small penannular ditch. A similar ring-ditch was excavated at Ballyveelish, Co. Tipperary, and was found to encircle a porched mortuary house in the centre of which was a polygonal cist containing the remains of two adults, a young teenager, and two children, as well as an Encrusted Urn and two Pygmy Cups. Many such ring-ditches date from the earlier Bronze Age, though as a type simple ring-ditches were built throughout prehistory. Burials such as those at Tara and the Bowl burial at Knockaulin represent one aspect of the continuing investment into complexes that would, in time, become the royal sites of later prehistoric and early historic Ireland.

Flag Fen

The jumble of timbers found on the floor of the Bronze Age hall being excavated at Flag Fen (Cambs). Shaped and jointed timbers can be seen in the photograph. (Francis Pryor)

Reconstruction of the late Bronze Age settlement at Springfield Lyons, Essex. (Tracey Croft)

On the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fens near Peterborough lies Flag Fen, an artificial island built about 1000 BC and made up of more than a million timbers. It is connected to the mainland by a ritual avenue of posts 820 m. long. It is likely that a number of buildings stood on the island, but at present only one large rectangular hall 6.5 m. (7.1 yd) wide and at least 20 m. (22 yd) long has been uncovered. It was constructed with three aisles, and posts supporting a thatched roof. Many of the timbers used in building it have survived, due to waterlogging, although they now lie in a jumbled confusion. Conspicuous, lying just off the shore in a lake of open water into which offerings were dropped, the site was one of prestige, perhaps a ceremonial centre, built by people who commanded respect and could control workmen.

There is however an alternative explanation for Flag Fen. Its position on an island might be for reasons of defence; further excavation is required to resolve this issue. We have noticed the great increase in military weapons, particularly swords in the south-east and elaborate spearheads elsewhere. There have also been hints that society was becoming stratified with peasants and farming groups, perhaps to be interpreted as workers and landowners with rich metal distributors somewhere in the picture. Weapons may have existed only as a prestigious deterrent, but it is most probable that they meant conflict between groups possibly disputing land ownership. The appearance of linear dykes to separate territories hints at land division between tribal groups.

At the same time, around 1000 BC, the climate was changing. As it became cooler and wetter areas of upland like Dartmoor and the North York Moors became impossible to farm due to the growth of blanket bog. The Dartmoor boundary reaves and Deverel Rimbury settlements seem to have been abandoned, so too was the marginal land, and there were new incursions into the chalk lands of the south and east. In northern Britain another natural catastrophe overwhelmed many impoverished settlements. Climatologists have recorded the volcanic activity of Mount Hekla in Iceland about 1159 BC. Prolonged clouds of volcanic dust blocked out the sun and caused low pressure and temperature, resulting in extremely high rainfall and cold weather all over Scotland and northern England. This led to an exodus of highland folk to the south. Settlements at Strath of Kildonan in Caithness were suddenly deserted, as were similar sites on the island of Noth Uist.

In Roxburghshire open settlements on Eildon Hill North were fortified with timber palisades for the first time, and at Broxmouth near Dunbar in East Lothian a large, circular wooden house was enclosed by a strong fence and guarded by dogs. Close by at Dryburn Bridge the same need for defence was observed, and this was repeated many times over in the Cheviot Hills of Northumbria. Hownam Rings in Roxburgh has become the type-site for this sudden enclosure. Over many years it was defended by a succession of two palisades, a stone wall and eventually multiple earthen ramparts. Inhabitants of these enclosures seem to have been pastoralists who found their new defences adequate protection for their animals.

Together, the effect of tribal grouping and environmental stress in the uplands due to climatic deterioration, aggravated by the effects of volcanic activity, seems to have been folk migration from the north which caused pressure on land in southern Scotland. Ripples spread out across England leading to an increase in population and heavy demand on resources. This in turn led to the enclosing of many settlements that were formerly open, and the first attempts at fortification and the protection of herds and flocks against human predators.

Major changes were taking place in the countryside. The old familiar rectangular fields of Wessex, sometimes called Celtic fields, were beginning to disappear. Sinuous linear dykes, with deep V-shaped ditches and often with banks on either side, perhaps planted with hedges, started to straddle the countryside, often running for several kilometres. Some included earlier fields within their bounds but often they cut across them, suggesting that the old arable plots were being replaced by sweeping ranches. The new boundaries usually respected the barrows that dotted the landscape, and often seem to have been aligned on them. Similar dykes were appearing elsewhere. Extensive systems are known on the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors and in the Midlands. Shorter cross-ridge dykes found on the chalk of Wessex, Sussex, Berkshire and the Chilterns probably relate to this same period.

Ann Ellison has suggested that certain major palisaded settlement sites which appear at the beginning of the first millennium fulfilled the function of exchange centres for metalwork and fine pottery. It is not clear how they would have operated but an examination of materials, especially pottery, from the sites suggest that each was situated on a boundary between style zones and acted as a communal meeting-place or market centre. Suggested centres were Rams Hill in Oxfordshire, Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset, Highdown Hill in Sussex and Martin Down in Dorset. With more investigation others may be expected on Dartmoor, in Kent and the Thames Basin.

A group of rather specialized fortified settlements of the late Bronze Age, around 1000 BC are known. One of the best examples has been excavated at Springfield Lyons in Essex, where a circular area 65 m. (71 yd) in diameter was strongly defended by a ditch 1.5 m. (1.6 yd) deep, broken by six causeways, and a bank topped by a timber palisade. Inside were three houses, the main one with an elaborate entrance porch facing the enclosure entrance. Another hut may have been a workshop—the site produced an important find of clay moulds for bronze casting. Similar sites have been excavated nearby at Mucking North and South Rings, and at Thwing in Yorkshire.

At Thwing a chalk bank was piled up inside a massive outer ditch which was more than 100 m. (109 yd) in diameter and 3 m. (3.3 yd) deep. Inside the bank were the paired post holes of a box-type rampart. At the centre of the enclosure was an enormous building 28 m. (30.6 yd) in diameter, with an internal ring of posts 19 m. (21 yd) in diameter which would have supported a roof. At the centre a cremation was found in an urn—a dedication perhaps? The building also produced many domestic items including a saddle quern, loom weights and spindle whorls, personal jewellery and weapons, and lots of pottery. Animal bones included those of cattle, pig, sheep, horse and deer.

Hilltop settlements were in existence by 1000 BC that mark the advent of the hillforts and are found initially in the highland zone. Radiocarbon dates show that Dinorben (Clywd) 1032 bc, Mam Tor (Derby) 1274 bc and Grimthorpe (Yorks) 1058 bc were already established, often as open settlements soon to be fortified. Metalwork from Ivinghoe Beacon (Bucks) suggests a late ninth-century BC date for a lowland site.