Warfare and violence in the Iron Age of Southern France
The Iron Age of southern France remains relatively unknown in the English-speaking archaeological world. The bes~-known aspects of the archaeological material suggest a society in which warfare was a recurrent theme. Major fortified centres, such as Entremont and Sa~nt-Blaise, and the tradition of 'warrior statues' from' Entremont and Roquepertuse, suggest that conflict was a recurrent preoccupation. Literary sources, particularly Poseidonius, have described the indigenous populations of this area' as a warlike people who took the heads of their enemies from the battlefield and displayed or preserved them in their settlements. Finds of skulls, some with nails still embedded in the bone, appear to verify such reports. Notwithstanding the recurring theme of conflict, these strands of evidence have never been analysed in tandem to identify the role and representation of warfare during this crucial period of colonial contact between the indigenous populations of the region and the state-level societies of the Mediterranean. The thesis attempts to identify patterns of warfare in the southern French Iron Age through examination of the documentary, settlement, iconographic and osteological evidence for warfare in
McCartney, Margaret
Warfare and violence in the Iron Age of Southern France. The Iron Age of southern France remains relatively unknown in the English-speaking archaeological world. The bes~-known aspects of the archaeological material suggest a society in which warfare was a recurrent theme. Major fortified centres, such as Entremont and Sa~nt-Blaise, and the tradition of 'warrior statues' from' Entremont and Roquepertuse, suggest that conflict was a recurrent preoccupation. Literary sources, particularly Poseidonius, have described the indigenous populations of this area' as a warlike people who took the heads of their enemies from the battlefield and displayed or preserved them in their settlements. Finds of skulls, some with nails still embedded in the bone, appear to verify such reports. Notwithstanding the recurring theme of conflict, these strands of evidence have never been analysed in tandem to identify the role and representation of warfare during this crucial period of colonial contact between the indigenous populations of the region and the state-level societies of the Mediterranean. The thesis attempts to identify patterns of warfare in the southern French Iron Age through examination of the documentary, settlement, iconographic and osteological evidence for warfare in
warfare violence iron_age southern_france iron_age southern_france remain_relatively unknown english_speaking archaeological world known aspect archaeological_material suggest society warfare recurrent theme major fortify centre tradition warrior statue suggest conflict recurrent preoccupation literary_source particularly describe indigenous_population area people take head enemy battlefield display preserved settlement finds skull still embed bone appear verify report notwithstanding recur_theme conflict strand_evidence never analyse tandem identify role representation warfare crucial_period colonial contact indigenous_population region state level society mediterranean attempt_identify pattern warfare southern french iron_age examination documentary settlement iconographic osteological_evidence warfare