The Iron Age was a time of very rapid change in the south of Britain. I much enjoyed Iron Age Celts in Wessex which describes this area where archaeologists have been excavating Iron Age sites for over 150 years. As a result of excavations at ever-impressive hill forts like Maiden Castle and Danebury, and less obvious settlements like the marsh-edge villages of Glastonbury and Meare, a detailed picture of daily life can be built up. To begin with, the communities of Wessex developed largely in isolation from the Continent, but in about 100 BC an active trade route developed between northern Brittany and Hengistbury Head. In 55 BC Julius Caesar landed in Kent on the first of two brief expeditions. Ninety years later the Roman armies of occupation arrived.

Professor Barry Cunliffe

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