Bibliography - History: Iron age
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Notes on the Romano-British Cemetery at Seaford, Sussex, by F. G. Hilton Price and John E. Price, published 1877 in Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (vol. 6, article, pp.300-309)

Ashburnham Iron-works, by A. Nesbit, published 1883 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 33, notes & queries, pp.267-268) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2118] & The Keep [LIB/500251] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Early Man, by George Clinch, F.G.S., published 1905 in The Victoria History of the County of Sussex (vol. 1: Natural History, Geology, pre-medieval Archaeology, the Domesday survey, and Political History, pp.309-332, , facsimile edition published 1973, 610 pp., London: Victoria County History, ISBN-10: 0712905855 & ISBN-13: 9780712905855) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2398] & The Keep [LIB/500089] & R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries   View Online

Discoveries near Cissbury, by Garnet R. Wolseley and Reginald A. Smith, published October 1924 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 4 issue 4, article, pp.347-359)   View Online

Park Brow is a ridge of the South Downs, running roughly north and south. The southern end of the hill, upon which three early inhabited sites have been found, abuts on the valley from which rises the higher hill crowned by Cissbury camp. On Park Brow there is clear evidence of the presence of man in ancient days. Very many lynchets or steep banks are found, a sunken trackway runs along the southern crest of the hill, adjoining which, where it passes the Early Iron Age site, is seen an embanked pit; while over the greater part of this area, as well as in the adjoining valleys, fragments of ancient pottery, rough flint scrapers, and other implements, together with many flint flakes, can be picked up.

The Early Iron Age Site at Findon Park, Findon, Sussex, by Cyril Fox and Garnet R. Wolseley, published October 1928 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 8 issue 4, article, pp.449-460)   View Online

The generosity of an anonymous benefactor to the Research Fund of the Society enabled further work to be carried out in 1927 on the Findon Park Iron Age village site, which is situated just above the 500-ft. contour on a broad flat southward-sloping ridge one mile to the north of Cissbury. We wished to obtain information as to the range of date of the occupation, and the culture of the inhabitants, additional to that reported in Archaeologia, Ixxvi.

The Date of Saxonbury Camp , by E. Cecil Curwen, published August 1929 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. II no. 7, note, pp.216-217) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8951] & The Keep [LIB/500204] & S.A.S. library

Saxonbury Camp , by S. E. Winbolt, published November 1929 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. II no. 8, article, pp.237-239) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8951] & The Keep [LIB/500204] & S.A.S. library

Saxonbury Camp , by D. Macleod, published February 1930 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. III no. 1, note, p.32) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8952][Lib 8221] & The Keep [LIB/500205] & S.A.S. library

Two Beakers and an Early Iron Age Urn, by Eliot Curwen, F.S.A. and Cecil Curwen, F.S.A., published 1935 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 76, article, pp.1-6) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2161] & The Keep [LIB/500353] & S.A.S. library

An Early Iron Age Camp in Piper's Copse, Kirdford, by S. E. Winbolt, published 1936 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 77, article, pp.245-252) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2162] & The Keep [LIB/500352] & S.A.S. library

Early Iron Age Site at Danehill, by I. D. Margary, published February 1936 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VI no. 1, note, p.29) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12537][Lib 8863][Lib 8224] & The Keep [LIB/500208] & S.A.S. library

The Archaeology of Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., F.S.A., published 1937 (xviii + 338 pp., London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15996] & East Sussex Libraries

Dr. Cecil Curwen has contributed so much to our knowledge of prehistoric Sussex, that we welcome his new volume in the series of County Archaeologies, which is devoted chiefly to pre-Roman remains. It is based largely on researches in which he himself has taken part, or on earlier work which his independent personal observations have enabled him to appraise. He leaves little space for the relics of the Roman occupation, and for a few antiquities of doubtful age which he relegates to a chapter headed "Limbo". He does well to omit all reference to the Saxon period, which would have curtailed too much his valuable account of the earlier phases of life in the county.
Dr. Curwen's book is admirably written to interest the general reader, and has many features - such as the quotations in chapter headings - which will captivate. He illustrates and explains the discoveries in Sussex by frequent references to corresponding finds elsewhere, and to customs which are not familiar. He also provides ample drawings and photographs which are noteworthy for their excellence; and he adds a useful series of small maps of the county, showing the geographical distribution of the known remains of different periods. Nor is he unmindful of the specialist and the reader who will be led to go further, for he gives in footnotes numerous references to the papers and separate works in which the original descriptions and detailed information will be found.
After some important preliminary observations, Dr. Curwen proceeds to describe and discuss the Sussex evidence of the primeval hunters and food-gatherers of Palaeolithic times. He enlists the aid of Mr. Reid Moir, who furnishes the material for a table of correlation of the Pleistocene deposits of Sussex, and adds some interesting remarks on the discoveries at Piltdown. It appears that no undoubted late Palaeolithic implements have hitherto been found in Sussex, but Mesolithic flints are widely spread, sometimes in rock shelters. The late Mr. Lewis Abbott found many of these flints in a "kitchen-midden" below Hastings Castle, but Dr. Curwen points out that none of the pottery in this deposit can be earlier than the Iron Age, while some is mediaeval, so that the accumulation is of various dates.
The dawn of civilisation was reached in Neolithic times, which are represented in Sussex by camps, dwelling places, long barrows, and flint mines. Dr. Curwen remarks that too many of the hill forts have been described as Neolithic camps on insufficient evidence, and only four have hitherto been satisfactorily identified in Sussex. Twelve long barrows are known on the chalk downs, but there are no stone chambers or dolmens. If the barrows were originally chambered, wood may have been used as in a long barrow lately explored in Lincolnshire. There seems to be no longer any doubt as to the Neolithic date of the flint mines, the supposed palaeoliths being really neoliths in process of manufacture.
After a special discussion of the flint implements, Dr. Curwen concludes that the finest of them were probably made and used in the early part of the Bronze Age. This age seems to have lasted in Britain from about 2000 to 500 B.C., and is noteworthy for the beginning of agriculture which can be studied in settlements on the downs. Nearly a thousand round barrows or burial mounds of the period have been identified in Sussex, chiefly on the Downs, and they have yielded a valuable series of urns and implements of various kinds. Still more important are the hoards of bronze implements, of which tabulated lists are given.
With the Iron Age comes evidence of the first cities; and Cissbury, the Caburn, and other sites are well described. Dr. Curwen then adds a concise technical chapter on the development of pottery, by which the late Bronze Age and the successive phases of the Iron Age are distinguished. Next follows an equally concise account of Roman Sussex, which is well up to date like the rest of the book, and includes the results of Mr. I. D. Margary's studies on the Roman roads. Among the subjects in "Limbo" is the Long Man of Wilmington, which is said to be very ancient but of uncertain date.
Dr. Curwen has spared no pains in verifying the facts and consulting the original sources, and he has used for the first time the valuable MS. diary of Dr. Gideon A. Mantell, of which Dr. Eliot Curwen has given a copy to the library of the Sussex Archaeological Society in Lewes. It is sad to note how many of the older finds have been lost, but gratifying to learn how carefully everything of importance is now preserved. Dr. Curwen is indeed to be congratulated on having produced a most valuable and inspiring work which will foster both discovery and preservation.

An Iron Age Pottery Site near Horsted Keynes, by H. R. Hardy, published 1937 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 78, article, pp.253-265) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2163] & The Keep [LIB/500351] & S.A.S. library

The Iron Age in Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, M.A., M.B., F.S.A., published 1939 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 80, article, pp.214-216) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2165] & The Keep [LIB/500349] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age and Romano-British Site at Seaford, by V. Gerard Smith, published 1939 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 80, article, pp.293-306) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2165] & The Keep [LIB/500349] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age Pottery and Graphite Schist at Westham, by C. E. C. [E. C. Curwen] - H. B. [H. Burton], published November 1940 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VIII no. 4, article, pp.111-112) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8865][Lib 2207] & The Keep [LIB/500210] & S.A.S. library

painted Iron-Age Pottery at Sedlescombe, by Eileen Chown, published August 1947 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XI no. 7, article, pp.148-151) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8229][Lib 2210] & The Keep [LIB/500213] & S.A.S. library

The Evolution of Sussex Iron Age Pottery, by A. E. Wilson, F.S.A. and G. P. Burstow, F.S.A., published 1948 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 87, article, pp.77-111) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2172] & The Keep [LIB/500342] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Iron Age Pottery from Telscombe Tye, by M. A. Newton, published February 1948 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XII no. 1, note, pp.18-19) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8230] & The Keep [LIB/500214] & S.A.S. library

An Iron Age and Romano-British Site on Slonk Hill, Shoreham, by N. E. S. Norris, G. P. Burstow, F.S.A. and F. H. Whitten, published May 1949 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XII no. 6 & 7, article, pp.150-154) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8230] & The Keep [LIB/500214] & S.A.S. library

Water Supply for Downland Camps, by Edward Pyddoke, published November 1950 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIII no. 4, note, p.89) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8231] & The Keep [LIB/500215] & S.A.S. library

The Archaeology of Sussex, by E. Cecil Curwen, published 1954 (2nd revised edition, 330 pp., London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 69] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

In the seventeen years that have passed since the first edition of this book appeared, and even more in the twenty-five since the publication of the author's seminal work, Prehistoric Sussex, a long series of excavations has been carried out along the seaboard and Downlands of Sussex, largely by or for the Society and its affiliated bodies under archaeologists, whom to name would be invidious, inspired by the work of Dr. Curwen and his distinguished father. The book has been skilfully revised and brought up to date, without much disturbance of the text and illustrations of 1937. The footnotes, which abound in references to the Society's and other publications of the forties and fifties, form an easy guide to the revisions and additions. For example, we have accounts, inter alia, after Burstow's work on the Bronze Age site on Itford Hill and of Dr. A. E. Wilson's recent work at Chichester. While the book was in proof Dr. Curwen was able to record the startling recent exposure of the Piltdown forgery.
With the Iron Age, with which unfortunately the book had to conclude, we get out of prehistory into history, even before the Romans came. For example, we have the tin-copper coins from the Caburn. These barbaric copies of Gaulish coins, originating at Massilia, bear a head and a bull. Dr. Curwen suggests that the head represents Apollo; but may we not infer from the bull that it rather represents that other sun-god, dear to the Roman legions, Mithras? The present writer is no prehistorian - indeed so little of one that it is only now that his belief, acquired in school days at Lancing, that dewponds are prehistoric, was a delusion, and that they are not to be dated earlier than the eighteenth century. So it is with great hesitation that he offers the suggestion above.
To the Iron Age belongs the network of Roman roads from the coast and over the Weald, which Mr. Margary has done so much to map out. Dr. Curwen gives a clear, though necessarily brief, resume of Mr. Margary's conclusions.
The wartime activities of tanks, and the even more drastic post war effects of bulldozers, will make future archaeological work difficult, especially on the Downs, where prehistoric habitations were thickest. But they may provide fresh problems for the archaeologists of the thirtieth century.

Skill of the ironmaster: collection at Lewes, Sussex, by John Every, by G. Christian, published 17 March 1955 in Country Life (article, pp.732-733)

Excavations at Muntham Court, Findon: Interim Report, 1954-5, by G. P. Burstow, F.S.A. and G. A. Holleyman, F.S.A., published November 1956 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIV nos. 11 & 12, article, pp.196-198) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8232][Lib 2213] & The Keep [LIB/500216] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Muntham Court, Findon, by G. P. Burstow, F.S.A. and G. A. Holleyman, F.S.A., published May 1957 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIV nos. 13 & 14, article, pp.232-233) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8232][Lib 2213] & The Keep [LIB/500216] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age Finds at Stoke Clump, by D. L. Francis, published November 1957 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIV nos. 15 & 16, note, p.280) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8232][Lib 2213] & The Keep [LIB/500216] & S.A.S. library

Some Pottery from Eastbourne, the ?Marnians' and the Pre-Roman Iron Age in Southern England, by F.R. Hodson, published 1962 in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (New series, vol. 28, article, pp.140-155)

The pottery illustrated on Plates XXI-XXII and figures 1 and 2 was found some forty years ago by the Rev. W. Budgen at Green Street Drove, Eastbourne (Budgen 1922). It is displayed in the Lewes Museum, and I must thank the curator Mr N. E. S. Norris for permission to study and republish it. Three of the vases stand out from the others because they are misformed wasters??cripples' Budgen called them. It is most likely that they were fired at the same time and it seems reasonable to treat this small series as a closed group. They appear, in any case, to have been found in the same pit (Budgen 1922, 355). The rest of the pottery, or at least the more complete vessels, could have formed part of the same assemblage, but there does not seem sufficient evidence to insist on any further associations within this material. Whether associated or not, the pottery merits republication as a whole, both for its intrinsic interest and as a tribute to the skill and patience bestowed on its reconstruction by Budgen, and one purpose of this paper will be simply to present this material. However, the small group of three ?cripples' raises some fundamental problems of interpretation and the main part of the paper will attempt to discuss some aspects of the British Iron Age and its classification in a more general way.

A Late Iron Age Site, East of Cuckmere, by Spencer F. Swaffer, published May 1964 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XVI no. 3, note, p.102) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8234] & The Keep [LIB/500218] & S.A.S. library

Stoke Clump, Hollingbury and the Early Pre-Roman Iron Age in Sussex, by Eric W. Holden, published 1966 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 104, article, pp.109-120) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2189] & The Keep [LIB/500325] & S.A.S. library

Excavations in the Iron Age Hill-Fort at High Rocks, near Tunbridge Wells, 1957-1961, by James H. Money, published 1968 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 106, article, pp.158-205) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2191] & The Keep [LIB/500323] & S.A.S. library

An Iron Age Promontory Fort at Belle Tout, by Richard Bradley, published 1971 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 109, article, pp.8-19) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2194] & The Keep [LIB/500320] & S.A.S. library

Stock Raising and the Origins of the Hill Fort on the South Downs, by Richard Bradley, published March 1971 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 51 issue 1, article, pp.8-29)   View Online

The first part of this paper is a discussion of the basic pattern of land use on the South Downs from the Middle Bronze Age to the early Pre-Roman Iron Age. In the second part, the impact upon this pattern of a group of Bronze and Iron Age stock enclosures is considered, and it is argued that these developed directly into a number of small hill forts. A contemporary group of larger, early Iron Age, hill forts is also defined, and it appears that these too grew up upon an economic basis of stock raising. The social and cultural implications of these developments are discussed, and tentative contrasts are drawn with the nature of later hill forts in the region.

A Section through the Iron Age Promontory Fort at Belle Tout, by Peter L. Drewett, published 1975 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 113, note, pp.184-186) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6177] & The Keep [LIB/500316] & S.A.S. library

Broadfields, Crawley, by Eileen Horne and John Gibson-Hill, published 1975 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 8, article, pp.47-50) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Broadfields is the first major Iron Age and Romano-British industrial settlement to be discovered on Weald clay. The site covers about 12 hectares (30 acres), with the main area of occupation spanning a shallow valley between a limestone ridge to the northeast and sandstone hills to the south.

Early Iron Age Ironworking in Sussex, by C. F. Tebbutt, published 1976 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 9, article, p.22) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

In view of the scarcity of evidence for Iron Age iron working in Sussex, particularly of B.C. date, it is of great interest to hear of such evidence from Slonk Hill, Shoreham (TQ 226 065) where, following, a rescue excavation in 1968, in advance of roadworks, Messrs. Hartridge and Whitty have been working each season.

Excavations at Bishopstone, Sussex. the Iron Age Period, by Martin Bell, published 1977 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 115, article, pp.49-138) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6997] & The Keep [LIB/500314] & S.A.S. library

The Iron-Age hill-fort and Romano-British iron-working settlement at Garden Hill, Sussex: interim report on excavations, 1968-76, by J. H. Money, M. G. Fulford and C. Eade, published November 1977 in Britannia (vol. 8, article, pp.339-350)   View Online

The earthwork at Garden Hill, Hartfield, East Sussex, until then unrecognised, was identified in 1968 by Mr C. F. Tebbutt, who found early Romano-British material in a trial excavation. Five seasons of excavation (1972-76) by the Garden Hill Excavation Group have established the broad outline of the site's history. A scatter of worked flints indicates slight occupation in the Neolithic/Bronze Age period. Attributed to the late pre-Roman Iron Age are a round house and part of what may be another. A hill-fort, with stonerevetted and palisaded defences, was built, possibly against the Roman invasion, but soon fell into disuse and was followed by Romano-British occupation. This included a rectangular timber building, roasting- and smeltingfurnaces and a forging-hearth of the first century; a rectangular building with two verandahs, using timber uprights set on padstones and in post-holes, and a four-post structure on the same alignment, both probably first-century; a timber building set on a stone platform and attached stone bath-building, of the second century; and undated post-hole and timber-slot systems (not fully excavated) representing fences and other timber structures. It is possible that Garden Hill was the base from which local iron-smelting sites were operated in the first and second centuries.

The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement at North Bersted, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, by Owen Bedwin and M. W. Pitts, published 1978 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 116, article, pp.293-346) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7197] & The Keep [LIB/500313] & S.A.S. library

The iron age pottery from Chilgrove 1, by A. Down, published 1979 in Chichester Excavations (vol. 4, article, pp.184-185, ISBN-10: 085033344X & ISBN-13: 9780850333442) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7196] & West Sussex Libraries

An Iron Age Gold Coin from Pulborough, by Frederick G. Aldsworth, published 1979 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 117, shorter notice, pp.251-252) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7497] & The Keep [LIB/500312] & S.A.S. library

Early Iron Age Pottery from Littlehampton, by Owen Bedwin, published 1979 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 117, shorter notice, pp.255-256) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7497] & The Keep [LIB/500312] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement in Eridge Park, by James H. Money, published 1979 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 117, shorter notice, p.258) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7497] & The Keep [LIB/500312] & S.A.S. library

Some Recent Finds of Iron Age Pottery on the West Sussex Coastal Plain, by Mike W. Pitts, published 1979 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 117, shorter notice, pp.259-260) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7497] & The Keep [LIB/500312] & S.A.S. library

A Chalk-cut Shaft at Belle Tout, East Dean (See S.A.C. Vol 112), by Lawrence Stevens, published 1979 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 117, shorter notice, p.260) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7497] & The Keep [LIB/500312] & S.A.S. library

Excavations in the Iron-Age Hill Fort and Romano-British Iron-Working Settlement at Garden Hill, Hartfield, East Sussex (1968-1978), by J. H. Money and A. D. F. Streeten, published 1979 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 15, article, pp.16-26) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558]   Download PDF

Garden Hill, part of an area known as 'The Park', is a NE-pointing spur of high ground 1½ miles (2.4km.) east of Wych Cross and 3½ miles (5.6km.) SW of Hartfield (in which parish of East Sussex it lies), between 500 and 550 feet above sea level. The nearest towns are Tunbridge Wells, 10 miles (16km.) north-east, and East Grinstead, 5 miles (8km.) north-west. The ground falls away fairly steeply on the north, south and east sides of the hill, but there is a level approach from the west. The subsoil is Ashdown Sand. The top of the hill is mainly flat, growing luxuriant bracken, with a sprinkling of trees, chiefly sweet chestnut and birch, but including a few very old yews.
Garden Hill lies near a minor Roman road (Margary 148), which in turn connects with the main London-Lewes road (Margary 14) at Gallypot Street. If, as is likely, a road linked the Romano-British settlement to Route 148, it would probably have been on the NW side, where the intervening ground is flat.
It is clear from the archaeological excavation that sometime in the past the hill-top was lightly ploughed and, as part of The Park, it may have been under grass. At present, Garden Hill lies within the Army Training Area of Pippingford Park and is owned by the Ministry of Defence.
In 1968 our Chairman, Mr C.F. Tebbutt, discovered the earthwork, which encloses an oblong area of about 6.8 acres (2.7 hectares) on the hill and has been proved to be a late Iron Age hill-fort with a typical inturned entrance at the NE corner there is possibly another entrance at the NW corner.
After promising trial excavations in the SE corner by Mr Tebbutt, in which first-century AD Romano-British material was found, the earthwork and the area which it enclosed were scheduled as an Ancient Monument by the then Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, fenced off from the rest of the Training Area and placed out of bounds to troops. The earthwork was surveyed and a plan drawn by Mr E.W. Holden.
In 1972, a small group, directed by Mr J.H. Money and Mr Tebbutt, investigated an area where buried structures were evident and excavated what turned out to be a small but complete 2nd-century AD Romano-British bath-building.
Following these encouraging results the Garden Hill Excavation Group was formed with the support of the Sussex Archaeological Society, and excavation on a much larger scale has taken place annually since 1973. These excavations have produced evidence of Neolithic/Bronze Age/Early pre-Roman Iron Age occupation of the hill-top and uncovered remains of the late pre-Roman Iron Age and a Romano-British iron-working settlement of the first, second and early third centuries AD.

The Archaeology of Sussex Pottery. Handmade Pottery and Society in Late Iron Age and Roman East Sussex, by Chris Green, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.69-86) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library

Neolithic and Iron Age Material from a Coastal Site at Chidham, West Sussex, 1978, by Owen Bedwin, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.153-170) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library

Rural settlement in late Iron Age and Roman Sussex, by D.R. Rudling, published 1982 in The Romano-British countryside: studies in rural settlement and economy, edited by D. Miles (article, pp.269-288)

Aspects of Iron Age settlement in Sussex, by Owen Bedwin, published 1984 in Aspects of the Iron Age in central southern Britain  (vol. 2, article, p.46)

An Iron Age Coin from 'Beedings', Pulborough, by Frederick G. Aldsworth, published 1984 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 122, archaeological note, p.217) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9140] & The Keep [LIB/500309] & S.A.S. library

Late Iron Age Coin Find at Drayton, Chichester, by Anne E. Bone, published 1985 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 123, archaeological note, p.255) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9514] & The Keep [LIB/500310] & S.A.S. library

Excavations at Copse Farm Oving, West Sussex, by Owen Bedwin, Robin Holgate and others, published December 1985 in The Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (vol. 51, article, pp.215-245)   View Online

Two farmsteads, one of late Iron Age (second-first centuries BC) date and the other dating to the early Romano-British period (first-second centuries AD), were excavated at Copse Farm, Oving. The site is situated within the Chichester dykes on the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Plain. The Iron Age farmstead produced pottery spanning 'saucepan' and 'Aylesford-Swarling' traditions, a transition in ceramic production which is poorly understood in Sussex. Information on the agricultural economy and small-scale industries (principally metalworking) practised at this site give an insight into the way the Coastal Plain was settled and exploited at the end of the first millennium BC.

A Late Iron Age Site at St. Anne's Road, Eastbourne, by Lawrence Stevens, published 1987 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 125, article, pp.75-80) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9994] & The Keep [LIB/500304] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age and Roman Quern Production at Lodsworth, West Sussex, by D. P. S. Peacock, published March 1987 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 67 issue 1, article, pp.61-85)   View Online

This paper describes the discovery, by geological and archaeological fieldwork, of a major Iron Age and Roman quern quarry which was supplying much of south-east and south-midland England. The debitage from the site is described and the chronological development of querns from the quarry assessed in the light of material found on habitation sites. It is argued that production reached a peak the first century A.D. The broad distribution of Lodsworth products during the Iron Age, and to a lesser extent during the Roman period, is discussed.

Iron Age and Roman Features at Kemp Town, by Oliver J. Gilkes, published 1989 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 127, archaeological note, pp.236-240) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 10604] & The Keep [LIB/500302] & S.A.S. library

Two Iron Age Silver Coins Found in East Sussex, by David R. Rudling, published 1991 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 129, archaeological note, p.245) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11694] & The Keep [LIB/500295] & S.A.S. library

An Iron Age Gold Coin from South Malling, by David R. Rudling, published 1992 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 130, archaeological note, p.238) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11918] & The Keep [LIB/500289] & S.A.S. library

Iron Age and Roman Littlehampton, by Oliver J. Gilkes, published 1993 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 131, article, pp.1-20) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12210] & The Keep [LIB/500300] & S.A.S. library

Late Iron Age and Romano-British Occupation at Ounces Barn, Boxgrove, West Sussex; Excavations 1982 - 1983, by Owen Bedwin and Chris Place, published 1995 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 133, article, pp.45-102) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13209] & The Keep [LIB/500288] & S.A.S. library

Using elderly data bases. Iron Age Pit Deposits at the Caburn, East Sussex, and Related Sites, by Sue Hamilton, published 1998 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 136, article, pp.23-40) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13921] & The Keep [LIB/500297] & S.A.S. library

Regional Traditions c.1000-100BC, by Sue Hamilton and John Manley, published 1 January 1999 in An Historical Atlas of Sussex (pp.20-21, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd, ISBN-10: 1860771122 & ISBN-13: 9781860771125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14026][Lib 18777] & The Keep [LIB/501686][LIB/508903] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

The End of Prehistory c.100BC-AD43, by Sue Hamilton and John Manley, published 1 January 1999 in An Historical Atlas of Sussex (pp.22-23, Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd, ISBN-10: 1860771122 & ISBN-13: 9781860771125) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14026][Lib 18777] & The Keep [LIB/501686][LIB/508903] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Updating the Sussex Iron Age, by Sue Hamilton and Kate Gregory, published 2000 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 138, article, pp.57-74) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14509] & The Keep [LIB/500298] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This article reviews the progress made in Sussex 'Iron Age' studies using a comparison of the data available in the 1930s with those available in the 1990s. In the 1930s Sussex was pre-eminent in the research of the period, through the fieldwork of the Curwens and others, and the pottery studies of Hawkes. By the end of the century things were very different. Present-day fieldwork and publication take place in changed contexts, and our research questions are wholly different. The old evidence has to be reused. This article provides a guide to this transformation. The present importance of the Sussex 1st-millennium BC data set is in its regionalism, both within the county, and in its divergence from the wider 'Iron Age' traditions of southern Britain as a whole.

Two Early First Millennium BC Wells at Selsey, West Sussex and their Wider Significance, by Mike Seager Thomas, published September 2001 in The Antiquaries Journal (vol. 81, article, pp.15-50)   View Online

Two early first millennium BC assemblages from Selsey Bill are considered, one of Late Bronze Age date and one of Early Iron Age date. Detailed examination of two large features suggests both a common function for the features and a functional similarity between the sites to which they belong. Data from them are tested against a contemporary, regional database. In terms of site activity and settlement form, both belonged to the same cultural tradition. But differences in inter-regional relationships, outlook and resource strategies are identified. The change, paralleled on contemporary Sussex sites, is attributed to population growth and a filling-out of the landscape.

From Iron Age roundhouse to Roman villa: excavations at Barcombe, Sussex, 2001-2003, by D. Rudling and C. Butler, published 2003 in Archaeology International (vol. 7, article, pp.17-21)   View Online

The first issue (1997/1998) of Archaeology International included an account by the Director of the Institute 's Field Archaeology Unit (UCLFAU) of excavations at the Roman villa of Bignor in West Sussex. Here he describes, with a colleague from the Mid-Sussex Field Archaeological Team (MSFAT), a major new research and rescue project at Barcombe in the Ouse valley in East Sussex

Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation at Chichester Road, Selsey, West Sussex, by Stephen Hammond and Steve Preston, published 2005 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 143, article, pp.71-82) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15610] & The Keep [LIB/500361] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Excavation in advance of a housing development revealed traces of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement and landscape features, exhibiting continuity of layout across the two phases. Boundary ditches defined land divisions, all apparently part of a single system extending at least 350 m along a terrace edge. Clustering close to these boundaries, isolated pits characterized the two northern areas of the site, while the southern area was occupied by structures and a dense concentration of pits of both periods. The only evidence of ritual activity was a tiny secondary deposit of cremation pyre debris in a ditch fill. The chronology is not particularly clear, but it is possible that both phases fall into the transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age, in the 8th century BC.

Understanding Iron Age Norton, by Mike Seager Thomas, published 2005 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 143, article, pp.83-115) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15610] & The Keep [LIB/500361] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Excavations by the Society at Norton in Bishopstone, East Sussex, revealed a pit complex, a working hollow, a grave, a stove filled with burnt stones, a midden and a horizontal terrace of Middle Iron Age (MIA) date. The evidence suggests, in addition, that a non post-built house may have been located within the area of the excavation. Traces of Late Iron Age (LIA) activity were also found. Among the finds made were two chronologically sequential groups of saucepan pottery, a potin coin (from a MIA context), a sherd of Campanian amphora, and an assemblage of non-local stone. By adding to our knowledge of the form and chronology of the Sussex Iron Age, the understanding of Iron Age Norton that these discoveries make possible clarifies the county's relationship to the period outside Sussex - and to other periods within it - and in so doing develops our knowledge of the period as a whole.

A Pre-A.D. 43 Ditch at Fishbourne Roman Palace, Chichester, by John Manley and David Rudkin, published November 2005 in Britannia (vol. 36, article, pp.55-99)   View Online

This article details the first unambiguous evidence for occupation in the Late Iron Age, dating to around 10 b.c.-a.d. 25, at the site that was to develop into the Roman Palace at Fishbourne (near Chichester, Sussex). The collection of sealed and well-dated imported and local pottery, accompanied by food refuse and a copper-alloy scabbard fitting, suggests significant activity at the site a generation prior to the Roman Conquest of a.d. 43. The material was found in the bottom of a ditch that had been deliberately back-filled. As such this discovery opens a new chapter in the remarkable story of Fishbourne.

Prehistoric and medieval environment of Old Town, Eastbourne: studies of hillwash in the Bourne Valley, Star Brewery Site, by Michael J. Allen, published 2007 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 145, article, pp.33-66) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15980] & The Keep [LIB/500363] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The prehistoric (Iron Age), Roman and medieval environment of the Bourne valley was examined via the study of dry-valley sediments, comprising a prehistoric lynchet overlooking the 'floodplain', and sediments on the Bourne 'floodplain' in Old Town. This research discovered an Iron Age site at the face of the lynchet, and investigated the area of the valley floor and the former Bourne Stream. Analytical investigations of magnetic susceptibility and archaeomagnetic dating were applied as novel techniques to examine their applicability to colluvial sediments and utilise any results they yielded. This research has provided a rare glimpse into the environment and land use of early Eastbourne and complements that from the downs and the results of the Eastbourne Urban Medieval Excavation Project (directed by Lawrence Stevens), under whose auspices this excavation was undertaken. This report, though long in gestation and fruition, is dedicated to Lawrence Stevens whose concept this excavation was, and who has, for so long, tirelessly championed the archaeology of Eastbourne.

A topographical survey of Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex: an interpretation of the prehistoric landscape from the Neolithic to the Middle Iron Age, by Mark Tibble, published 2008 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 146, article, pp.53-74) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15997] & The Keep [LIB/500364] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This article results from a topographical survey of the landscape and hillfort of Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex, carried out in the summer of 2003 and the winter of 2004 by the author. Produced as an undergraduate dissertation for the University of Southampton, the survey has recorded the site as it was in 2004 and has provided a base for future management. It has also recorded previously unsurveyed features which may prove to be Bronze Age round barrows. The aim was to contextualize the hillfort within its immediate topographical setting. This has provided a background against which an interpretation might be made of the prehistoric use of the landscape. This work approached the idea of the landscape as being inscribed with meaning and significance that is carried over a long timescale beginning in the Neolithic, although it is interpreted against the varying cultural backgrounds of the prehistoric communities. It also considers the construction of the Late Bronze Age hillfort and views this construction in part as the creation of a physical link to the mythical past.

An Early Bronze Age burial and Iron Age ditch at East Brighton Golf Club, by John Funnell, published 2008 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 146, short article, pp.199-202) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15997] & The Keep [LIB/500364] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Animals as status symbols? Pigs and cattle in Iron Age/Roman West Sussex, by Martyn Allen, published April 2008 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 114, article, p.8, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

The role of animals in archaeology has traditionally been thought of from an economic perspective, with animal bone reports highlighting 'calories consumed' or 'yields produced'. More recently, the social importance of animals, as in ritual practices, ethnic values or symbolically in art, have been emphasised.

Bognor Regis Warrior Burial, published December 2008 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 116, article, pp.7-8, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Excavations conducted by Thames Valley Archaeology Services at North Bersted, near Bognor Regis, West Sussex, in June 2008 revealed an accompanied adult male inhumation burial of Late Iron Age date.

Animalscapes and empire : new perspectives on the Iron Age/Romano British transition , by Martyn George Allen, 2011 at University of Nottingham (Ph.D. thesis)   View Online

Human-animal relationships have long existed, across cultures, in many varied forms. The associations between the two are integral to the creation, form, use and perception of landscapes and environments. Despite this, animals are all too often absent from our views of ancient landscapes. Humans experience their diverse environments through a variety of media, and animals regularly play an important role in this type of exchange. Landscape archaeology commonly emphasises the influences of humanity upon the physical world. However, such engagement is rarely unilateral. Whether herding domesticated mammals, hunting quarry, or merely experiencing the range of fauna which populate the world, many of these interactions leave physical traces in the landscape: the form and location of settlements, enclosures, pathways, woodland, pasture, and meadows. Also, in more subtle ways, human and animal actors work together in performances through which people subconsciously generate their perceptions of landscape and environment. These physical and psychological animal landscapes have the potential to inform on human society and ideology. This thesis seeks to utilise zoo archaeological evidence to examine this concept. Animalscape research could be applied to any place or period but as a case study this project will explore, through animal bone analysis, how landscape and environment were used to negotiate cultural identity during the Iron Age/Romano-British transition, a pivotal but poorly understood period in British history. Research focuses on a c.200 km2 area of land bordering the West Sussex coast. This is a complex and singular locale, encompassing a number of Iron Age and Romano-British sites - most notably the elite settlement at Fishbourne which originated in the late Iron Age and developed, towards the end of the 1st century AD, into the largest 'Roman-style' domestic building north of the Alps. The site has been excavated a number of times in different areas since its discovery in 1960 until 2002; the various investigations producing a large quantity of animal bone. Yet this has, until now however, only been subjected to piecemeal analysis. The full re-analysis of the Fishbourne faunal assemblage is central to this project. To place these new data in their wider context, existing animal bone information from all pertinent published and 'grey' zoo archaeological literature is synthesised. The resulting datasets allow for a detailed examination of animal landscapes across the Iron Age/Romano-British transition at three nested scales: site and context; hinterland/region; and, Empire. Integrating the zooarchaeological data with evidence from landscape and environment studies, Iron Age/Roman archaeology, ancient history and, most importantly, social anthropology is key to this project. A new theoretical framework is adopted here, whereby animals are seen not simply as passive indicators of economy and environment but as active beings, providing visual, audio and physical experience, and it is through these novel approaches by considering the human-animal-landscape relationship, that a new insight into the cultural changes of the Iron Age to Romano-British transition will be obtained.

New animals, new landscapes and new world views: the Iron Age to Roman transition at Fishbourne, by Martyn Allen and Naomi Sykes, published 2011 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 149, article, pp.7-24) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18614] & The Keep [LIB/500367] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Anthropologists and cultural geographers have long accepted that animals play an important role in the creation of human cultures. However, such beliefs are yet to be embraced by archaeologists, who seldom give zoo archaeological data much consideration beyond the occasional economic or environmental reconstruction. In an attempt to highlight animal remains as a source of cultural information, this paper examines the evidence for the changing relationship between people and wild animals in Iron Age and Roman southern England. Special attention is given to 'exotic' species - in particular fallow deer, domestic fowl and the hare - whose management increased around AD 43. In Iron Age Britain the concept of wild game reserves was seemingly absent, but the post-Conquest appearance of new landscape features such as vivaria, leporaria and piscinae indicates a change in worldview from a situation where people seemingly negotiated with the 'wilderness' and 'wild things' to one where people felt they had the right or the responsibility to bring them to order. Using Fishbourne Roman Palace as a case study, we argue that wild and exotic animals represented far more than gastronomic treats or symbols of Roman identity, instead influencing the way in which people engaged with, traversed and experienced their surroundings.

Excavation of medieval burgage plots and further evidence of iron working on land off Pegler Way, Crawley, West Sussex, by Stephen Hammond, published 2011 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 149, article, pp.49-58) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18614] & The Keep [LIB/500367] & S.A.S. library   View Online

Excavation at Pegler Way has extended the evidence of medieval burgage plot boundaries recovered from an adjacent site on the Crawley High Street Relief Road and added more evidence of the local disposal of iron-working waste, although again the primary working site has not been identified. A rare find of a wooden scutching knife suggests flax processing. The site appears to have been used only for a short span, from the late 12th to the 14th century.

Commanding position: high-status Late Iron Age and Romano-British occupation of a Wealden ridge at Beedings Hill, West Sussex, by Matt Pope, Caroline Wells, David Rudling, Anna Doherty, Sue Pringle, Louise Rayner and Roberta Tomber, published 2012 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 150, article, pp.71-94) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18615] & The Keep [LIB/500368] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This report presents the results of recent excavation and a field-walking survey at Redfolds Farm and Beedings Castle, near Nutbourne, Pulborough. It also publishes for the first time material from this site retained by the late Con Ainsworth. Late Iron Age and early Roman finds of pottery, including imported Dressel 1 amphorae and 'Pulborough' samian, coins and ceramic building material, are reported and discussed. Through the fieldwork and archive reassessment undertaken as part of the Beedings survey, Beedings Hill can now be confirmed as a site with significant high-status Late Iron Age and Romano-British activity. Strong evidence has been identified for trading contacts with the continent in the form of wine amphorae, other ceramics and Late Iron Age coinage. Insights are gained into Iron Age decorated pottery groups and the local production of samian in the 2nd century ad. The significance of this evidence in understanding the distribution of political power in Late Iron Age West Sussex and its transformation under Roman rule are discussed.

Butser Ancient Farm: Recreating ancient lifestyles, by Sarah Hannah, published April 2012 in Sussex Past & Present (no. 126, article, pp.10-11, ISSN: 1357-7417) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500475] & S.A.S. library   View Online

This experimental archaeological project was first set up in 1972 by Dr Peter Reynolds, using archaeological discoveries to test ideas on how people in Britain farmed and lived in the Iron Age (around 300BCE). An earlier site was located on the slopes of Butser Hill within Queen Elizabeth Country Park, but following park development the farm was moved to its present site, an idyllic valley close to the village of Chalton some 4km south of Butser Hill, in 1990.

A re-investigation of Late Iron Age and Roman iron production, and Saxon activity, at Rathlin Road, Crawley, by Jo Pine, published 2013 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 151, article) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18616] & The Keep [LIB/507730] & S.A.S. library   View Online

A small excavation was carried out in advance of redevelopment, to relocate precisely a previous excavation and to record any additional deposits. The original fieldwork carried out in the 1970s, known as Broadfield Site 2, revealed Iron Age and primarily Roman shaft smelting furnaces and ditches. The current project was able to relocate the remains of the previously excavated features. Although most of these had already been excavated in whole or in part, it was possible to obtain additional dating information, and to revise some of the earlier findings. A series of published radiocarbon dates is also reassessed and two new dates added. One unexpected result was the presence of a late Saxon ditch on the site.
with contributions from J. R. L. Allen, Lucy Cramp and Malcolm Lyne

Bronze Age and Middle Iron Age Occupation and Roman Fields at Lidsey Landfill, Woodgate, West Sussex, by Sean Wallis and Steve Ford, published 22 September 2014 (T.V.A.S. occasional paper no. 5, vii + 44 pp., Reading: Thames Valley Archaeological Services, ISBN-10: 0992633044 & ISBN-13: 9780992633042) accessible at: British Library

Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman landscapes of the coastal plain, and a late Iron Age warrior burial at North Bersted, Bognor Regis, West Sussex : excavations 2007-2010, by Andy Taylor, published 28 December 2014 (210 pp., Reading: Thames Valley Archaeological Services, ISBN-10: 0992633028 & ISBN-13: 9780992633028) accessible at: British Library

Excavations on St Anne's Hill: A Middle/Late Iron Age Site and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at St Anne's Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex , by Anna Doherty and Christopher Greatorex, published 2 May 2016 (240 pp., SpoilHeap Publications, ISBN-10: 0957650981 & ISBN-13: 9780957650985)