Cemeteries and Settlement Patterns of the Iron Age on the Yorkshire Wolds

Abstract

The Yorkshire Wolds hold an air of mystery for students of the Iron Age. As is well known these chalk hills lie at the heart of the largest group of Early Iron Age burials in Britain, the ‘Arras Culture’, so-called after the first and richest cemetery to be excavated (fig. 1; Stead 1979). Although these burials are often quoted in general discussions and formed an important piece of evidence in the ‘invasion controversy’, it is only in the last few years that up to date illustrations of the material have begun to appear in textbooks (Cunliffe 1978; Champion 1979) following the publication of interim excavation reports (Brewster 1976; Stead 1977). Little is known of the settlements which these cemeteries served and even less is published. The present paper is an attempt to trace settlement patterns by an examination of the funerary material in conjunction with the domestic evidence which was found in the very large-scale excavations in Garton and Wetwang Slacks (Brewster 1981; Dent 1982).A heavy funerary bias in the material is further exaggerated because the distinctive square-plan barrows of the ‘Arras Culture’ are readily identifiable from the air whereas settlement can rarely be dated without excavation. Many hundreds of barrows are now known in this way (Ramm 1973; 1974; Loughlin and Miller 1979) and all but the most recently excavated have been catalogued (Stead 1979). An essential requirement for a discussion of these is the ability to date the material involved, either in absolute or in relative terms. It would be useful if distinctive groups could be recognized among the pottery from these sites since the metalwork is rare in domestic contexts, whereas even poor sites usually produce some sherds. Unfortunately there is virtually no decorated pottery and the plain jars which are found in graves cannot at present be used as a basis for a chronology. It is the metalwork which presents the best opportunity for such a classification.