The book is the product (and one outcome) of a project funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council award made to Chris Gosden, J D Hill and John Mack. The project, entitled ‘Technologies of Enchantment’, seeks to re-evaluate the phenomenon of Celtic art in Britain, stripping away the old approaches that concentrated on style and form and focusing, instead, upon the context of the art and its role as an active agent in late Iron Age and Romano-British societies. But that is by no means all, for one of the foundation stones of the research project has been a stringent chronological study, based partly on archaeological context and partly on a radiocarbon-dating programme on all artefacts where organic residues are present.
The twelve contributors to the volume provide a wide range of approaches and research agenda that range from study of the distinction between ‘hot glass working’ and true enamelling to interpretations of the curious florescence in native British art during the first two centuries of Roman domination, particularly in the north and west. One of the most important aspects of the research presented in this volume is the emphasis on the need to treat art as part of a more general expression of the dynamics operating within late Iron Age and Romano-British society, rather than as a stand-alone phenomenon. The key role played by Celtic art in the first centuries ad resonates with the function of other synchronous classes of material culture, notably that of religious iconography, as political and social statements.
Chris Gosden and J D Hill set the scene in their introductory essay ‘Re-integrating Celtic art’. The authors emphasize the uniquely British nature of insular art and the paucity of continental imports, and present a persuasive argument for the art as an agent in negotiating identities and forming networks between groups of people. They stress the key role played by materialities and that the ‘value’ of each piece depended not simply on its form as finished object but at least as much on the investment of time, skill and choice of materials for its production: so ‘making’ was as key as ‘consumption’. For instance, the different properties of iron and bronze (solid and fluid) were knitted inextricably into the persona of each piece. The authors raise crucial issues concerning the appearance of art in the archaeological record, noting that what we have is a tiny minority of what was once produced, and raising questions as to why particular objects were selected for special deposition and thus survive for present study. They also comment on the complex biographies of some pieces and their perception, perhaps, as ‘elders’, with the addition to their ‘value’ of accumulated wisdom and experience.
The primary concern in Duncan Garrow’s paper is the purpose and methodology of the ‘Technologies of Enchantment’ project. It contains detailed reference to the process of data gathering, a rationale for inclusion and exclusion from the database, and a definition of Celtic art. The choice of excluded material is somewhat curious, particularly in respect of coins and brooches; indeed, the volume none the less includes Ian Leins’s essay on Iron Age coins. However, Garrow’s survey of distributions of art-objects is telling, particularly when such patterns are overlain with chronological considerations. What is very clear is how important a factor romanitas was in stimulating the production of indigenous art, raising such important issues as resistance and reassertion/renegotiation of identities.
The remaining chapters range from a very traditional, well-trodden approach to Celtic art from the Megaws (and I am afraid that I have to agree with their statement that ‘there is little of our own in the present paper’) to a truly inspirational paper by Mansel Spratling on the aesthetics of the Britons, where he rightly and percipiently identifies Maiden Castle as a piece of monumental art. Other important contributions include Mel Giles’s discussion of the art of war and Fraser Hunter’s examination of Celtic art in Roman Britain. Also of particular value is the detailed analysis of the Seven Sisters Hoard in south Wales and the identification of ‘Native Campaigning Art’ in the early Roman period (exemplified by changing techniques of glass-inlay work), by Mary Davis and Adam Gwilt. Niall Sharples’s chapter, ‘Contextualising Celtic Art’, contains penetrating observations, not least the relationship between decorated pots and ornamental metalwork that, in some regions, appear to be mutually exclusive.
Negative elements of the book include the seemingly arbitrary omission of coins and brooches and the somewhat coy side-stepping of the ‘Celtic debate’ reflected in many of the essays. A curious omission is an index, surely an essential element in any archaeology book, particularly one dealing with a multitude of sites and finds. Another, more minor, negative editorial aspect is the inconsistency of figure numbering between chapters: in some, figures are numbered differently from tables; in others, tables and figures are numbered consecutively. There are some typographical errors, betraying a certain laxity in proof-reading.
Despite the caveats mentioned above, the book is a tour de force and the project has displayed a quantum leap in the understanding of the peculiar phenomenon that is Celtic art in Britain. It is essential reading for anyone interested in art, materiality and ancient societies and – particularly, of course – in Iron Age Britain.
