The Iron Age Round-House: Later Prehistoric Building in Britain and Beyond - Hardcover

Harding, D. W.

9780199558575: The Iron Age Round-House: Later Prehistoric Building in Britain and Beyond

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199558574 ISBN 13: 9780199558575

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2009

In contrast to Continental Europe, where the Iron Age is abundantly represented by funerary remains as well as by hill-forts and major centres, the British Iron Age is mainly represented by its settlement sites, and especially by houses of circular ground-plan, apparently in marked contrast to the Central and Northern European tradition of rectangular houses. In lowland Britain the evidence for timber round-houses comprises the footprint of post-holes or foundation trenches; in the Atlantic north and west, the remains of monumental stone-built houses survive as upstanding ruins, testimony to the building skills of Iron Age engineers and masons. D. W. Harding's fully illustrated study explores not just the architectural aspects of round-houses, but more importantly their role in the social, economic and ritual structure of their communities, and their significance as symbols of Iron Age society in the face of Romanization.

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Review:

This book provides an excellent and comprehensive description of these structures... and contains a critical review of many significant problems of interpretation that make it an important contribution to any library. (Niall Sharples, British Archaeology)

this meticulously researched and well-illustrated volume is a significant contribution to Iron Ages studies (Lisa Westcott, Current Archaeology)

an invaluable introduction and summary for any newcomer to the subject, and a must-have reference volume for those already more (Lindsey Buster, European Journal of Archaeology)

About the Author:

D. W. Harding is Abercromby Professor Emeritus in the University of Edinburgh.

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