A reassessment of the uses and limitations of numismatic evidence in the study of the societies of late Pre-Roman Iron Age Britain

A prehistoric coin hoard. Iron Age, early 1st century AD. Found in East Leicestershire, England

(Collaborative Doctoral Award with Birkbeck College, University of London)

Project leader: Ian Leins

Department: Coins and Medals

Project start: October 2005
End date: 2011

Other British Museum staff: Jonathan Williams

Other departments: Prehistory and Europe

External partners:

Birkbeck College, University of London  http://www.bbk.ac.uk/
Contact: Ian Haynes, Director of Archaeology, School of Classics, History and Archaeology: i.haynes@bbk.ac.uk

Project funded by:

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC),
The British Museum

Description:

This project uses the extraordinarily rich database of Iron Age coin finds from Britain to fundamentally reassess some of the most cherished assumptions about late pre-Roman Iron Age society.  As a result of the long-term recording work of the Celtic Coin Index (CCI) established in 1960, and subsequently of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) established in 1997, Iron Age coins are one of the best attested and most systematically recorded forms of evidence for the period. By combining data from the CCI and PAS, the project will examine patterns within coinage distribution.

Provisional analysis suggests that the assumed significance of tribal or regional level organisation and traditional notions of power and kingship should be challenged. These ideas have changed remarkably little in the 150 years since iron age coins began to be systematically catalogued. The majority of numismatic studies still therefore assume that the circulation areas of the several stylistically distinct coin series, identified in the last century are indicative of the key social and political divisions of lowland Britain.  

Alternative interpretations of the patterns observed within Iron Age coinage drawing on alternative social dynamics will be examined by this project.

Objectives:

The results of this project will be published after the submission of a PhD thesis in 2010. Additionally, it is intended that all data will be available and fully searchable online. PAS data is currently publicly accessible online at http://www.finds.org.uk/, and it is intended that data from the CCI will be integrated and made available through the same website.

More information:

http://www.finds.org.uk/

Image: A prehistoric coin hoard. Iron Age, early 1st century AD. Found in East Leicestershire, England