Exploring Social and Economic Change at the Bronze Age-Iron Age Transition in Southern Britain: A Multi-isotope and Zooarchaeological Approach

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Integrating Isotope Analyses: The State of Play and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (ca. 800–400 BC) was a time of great transition in various parts of Europe, largely relating to climatic deterioration and the breakdown of networks surrounding the production and trade of Bronze. In southern Britain this saw the rise of a new site type, commonly termed a midden. These vast monumental mounds, some comprising millions of artifacts/ecofacts dominated by animal bone and ceramics, signal a societal refocus towards agricultural intensification and communal feasting on a grand scale. This suggests that feasts had a role in mediating new networks and husbandry regimes during this phase. This paper presents results from the FestNet project, which explores the scale and nature of the networks surrounding feasting events and new approaches to agricultural intensification at a time of climatic deterioration. A program of strontium, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen isotope analysis on domestic animals from six sites demonstrates different catchments and variable husbandry regimes across both sites and species. Zooarchaeological research has enriched these interpretations, providing evidence for both extensive and specialized animal management strategies. These data provide new insights on the problematic issue of how the economy and patterns of connectivity changed during this transitional phase.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Integrating Isotope Analyses: The State of Play and Future Directions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39891.0