The Iron Age came to Britain in exactly the same way as the previous revolutions in farming and in the use of bronze. Warrior farmers came over from Europe and settled in south-eastern England. This area of Britain was close to their homelands in Europe, it was well favoured for farming, there was iron stone to be found in the area known as the Weald and also forest land to provide the charcoal needed to smelt the iron. The trees could be cleared because these invaders used iron axes. Their use of iron swords gave them superiority over the native peoples and iron ploughshares meant that they could plough more deeply and could cultivate land which the Bronze Age farmers had had to leave alone.
The last major invasion of Britain before the Roman conquest was by the B
elgae people of Northern Gaul (France) in 75 B.C. These people were quite civilised. They built towns and established tribal kingdoms. They kept cattle and grew grain. They used bronze and gold coins and sometimes traded bars of iron instead of money. They traded in tin and copper and were accustomed to fine clothes and fine jewellery. Their religion was conducted by priests called Druids and these priests were also teachers and judges. The Druidic religion was very powerful and demanded sacrifices. However, although the Belgae people were the last of the Iron Age invaders and although iron had been used in Britain for some four hundred years by this time, there were still people in many areas of the country using bronze or even flint.
The Iron Age warriors of Britain were fierce soldiers. They were armed with iron swords, daggers, helmets and shields. They used chariots in their battles and rode fiercely at great speed hurling spears at the enemy forces. Charioteers sometimes drove the warriors into battle and waited for them whilst they fought on foot. If a retreat was called, then the noble had his chariot standing by!
Try to draw a picture of an Iron Age warrior in his chariot. Use the photographs on this page to help you sketch the armour and weapons he might have used.
The Iron Age people built many Hill Forts in Britain. These forts were somewhat similar to the first castles built by the Normans over 1000 years later. Nowadays the moats which surrounded these forts have been filled in with the mud and dust of 2000 years of history. The encampments have been turned over to pasture land. But in the Iron Age these hill forts were formidable castles. The moats would have been deep and steep-sided. The ramparts would have been steep and difficult to climb and at their summit they were spiked with a palisade of stout wooden stakes. Sometimes a stone wall stood on the ramparts with a palisade on top.
One of the strongest of these hill forts was at Maiden Castle in Dorset.
The castle was not a castle in the sense that there was an actual keep or building, but the moats and the ramparts protected an inner sanctuary or compound, and huts could be built there and cattle herded together. The main ramparts may have been 20 metres high and protected by a 4 metre stone wall spiked with wooden stakes.
Here are some questions to discuss on the History of Man Forum
1. How was the Hill Fort different from a medieval castle?
2. How do you think the chieftains set about building a fort?
Life in the Iron Age written by Monique Barb for FamousWhy.com
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Life in the Iron Age Image Source : wikipedia.org
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