800 BC-AD 43 Iron Age

During this period iron was used in the British Isles for the first time. It was used instead of bronze for tools such as axes, knives and weapons, though bronze continued to be used for other objects including jewellery. There are almost no known contemporary written records about the Iron Age British Isles so what we know is mostly due to archaeology.

Most Iron Age Britons lived a rural life, farming animals and crops in large communities or tribes. There were no towns or major roads, although people did build large defensive sites known today as hillforts. Britons traded with other societies in mainland Europe and the Mediterranean, but money was not used until the very end of the Iron Age. They also had strong religious beliefs and made offerings to their gods.

The Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 had an enormous effect on the society and culture of the native Britons. In some areas such as south-east England, the people became extremely ‘Romanised’. However other areas such as Ireland or Scotland were not so influenced by the Romans. In these places Iron Age ways of life continued after the arrival of the Romans in a period we call the Roman Iron Age.