Regional Patterns and the Cultural Implications of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Burial Practices in Britain

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This study investigates potential regional patterns of Iron Age burial practices and the cultural implications thereof. It is a literary-based assessment of 100 sites that date between the Late Bronze Age and the Late Iron Age, all containing human remains. The study illustrates a temporal relationship with the manner of disposal that is regionally distinct. It addresses other repeated Iron Age burial themes, such as differential treatment of infants, reuse of earlier monuments, bones marking liminal and economic spaces, and deposits adhering to a specific spatial pattern with buildings. It demonstrates that the processing of the corpse and the spatial context of the human remains deposit are central for understanding the community’s perception of the bones and, thus, the meaning of the deposition. The core concept is that Iron Age communities practised various ritual processes, each with a different purpose, but using the same medium - human remains.