The Atlantic Iron Age. By Jon C Henderson. 234mm. Pp xiv+369, 125 b&w ills, tables, maps. London and New York: Routledge, 2007. ISBN 9780415436427. £70 (hbk).

摘要

This book sets out with the admirable aim of demonstrating that there is more to the Iron Age of Europe than an examination of Celts and the archaeology of Hallstatt and La Tène culture. It provides a detailed description of the archaeological record of the western fringe of Britain and France, the Atlantic Zone, in the first millennium bc. The archaeology of western Spain is also discussed in relation to the earlier part of the period, but only in a cursory fashion, and the Iron Age of this region is excluded as it is felt to be relatively unconnected to the areas to the north. The principal thesis of the book is that these areas are connected by the sea and that this enables a relatively homogeneous culture to develop, which is unexpected, given the long distances that separate the different parts of the region.nThe bulk of the book is taken up by descriptions of the settlement sequences in the principal sub-regions of the Atlantic Zone: the Scottish Isles, western Ireland, Cornwall, west Wales and Brittany. The focus on the settlement record in these regions is understandable, as it is the dominant feature of the archaeological record, and the book provides an important statement of the richness and quality of material that is either ignored or dealt with in isolation. The author is trying to demonstrate that an emphasis on settlement and houses is a defining feature of the Atlantic Zone in the Iron Age. The creation of a monumental stone architecture is a feature that not only contrasts with the Bronze Age emphasis on elaborate metalwork but documents the contact between the different regions of the wider Atlantic Zone