Studies of the Roman Iron Age in northern England have been dominated for over half a century by the work of George Jobey. His legacy of survey and extensive excavation, mostly in the uplands of Northumberland, created a picture of a densely-settled but materially poor Roman Iron Age, with a handful of Roman finds. This volume recalibrates our understanding of the area's Iron Age, and in particular the impact of the Roman world. In reporting on a series of major rescue excavations immediately north of Newcastle (Blagdon, East and West Brunton being the key ones), Hodgson et al. jolt the reader out of any cosy preconceptions of a simple Iron Age taking occasional benefit of the Roman presence. They reveal complex sequences, suggested already by Jobey's work but now with the benefits of secure radiocarbon sequences, culminating in rectilinear enclosures starting from c. 200 b.c. The sheer scale of these sites is noteworthy: fig. 100, comparing their plans to that of Wallsend Roman fort, is an eye-opener, while also stressing the size disparity between lowland and upland sites.

The authors wring an impressive amount from often badly truncated evidence, with thoughtful discussion and interesting interpretations (e.g. 21ff. on non-domestic roundhouses; 208f. on population densities and models of social relations; 211 on regional identities, which seem to span the river Tyne), making this much more than a conventional excavation report. The sites were finds-poor (although only a small percentage of each ditch and gulley was excavated; more extensive proportions should be specified in future work); many finds were deliberate deposits rather than rubbish disposal (for instance, older rock art found in ditches, or intact querns in post-holes: 70, 153). Bone preservation was almost non-existent, but a rigorous sampling policy produced enough macroplant material to reconstruct this element of the economy and, critically, provide a radiocarbon-dated sequence, with 53 dates from the main sites (although note H.’s critique of potential biases in the Bayesian modelling: 120–1, 123). Among other things, this revealed open settlements contemporary with rectilinear ones, suggesting a previously unproven settlement hierarchy (206, 220).

For a Britannia readership, the question of Roman impact is likely to be the key reason to reach for this tome. The Jobey picture of small amounts of Roman material is contradicted here: the single secure Roman find is an amphora sherd which probably reached the East Brunton site before the conquest, part of a wider picture of early Roman contacts in this area (142–4). Instead, H. (sole author of the final synthetic chapter) argues first for the road line of the Devil's Causeway as a north–south continuation of the Stanegate, separating pro- and anti-Roman groups (212–13); and then, with the building of Hadrian's Wall, a radical change of policy causing widespread site abandonment, perhaps as deliberate depopulation in advance of the frontier. When I first heard the argument at a conference, my reaction was scepticism; did the data really support such a radical view? Now with the evidence presented, it is clear there is a case to answer. One could push the individual site radiocarbon sequences apart, but they can also be read as a horizon around the Hadrianic period, an interpretation supported by the virtual absence of Roman finds. H. reviews evidence for the creation of cleared zones elsewhere beyond the Limes (217–18), and suggests this was the policy here too, though he notes other possible mechanisms, such as a shift to cattle-raising to supply the Roman economy destabilising long-lived arable-focused societies.

The patterns are plausible, and the model now needs further testing. More sites have been excavated since this volume, and their publication should carry debate on. Clearly not all areas experienced this event; most upland ‘Jobey sites’ showed Roman Iron Age occupation, though they mostly lie further north. Yet there are indications of wider disturbances during the second century north of Hadrian's Wall. Peter Hill argued for abandonment of roundhouse settlements in south-east Scotland (‘Settlement and chronology’, in D.W. Harding (ed.), Later Prehistoric Settlement in South-East Scotland (1982), 4–43, esp. 10), while in the north-east of Scotland the end of the second century saw major settlement dislocation (F. Hunter, ‘Looking over the Wall: the late and post-Roman Iron Age north of Hadrian's Wall’, in F.K. Haarer (ed.), AD 410: the History and Archaeology of Late and Post-Roman Britain (2014), 206–15, esp. 208–9). Are these unconnected events, or was there a wider turbulence in indigenous settlement systems provoked knowingly or unknowingly by Roman intervention? This is a key topic for future debate. For the moment, this Northumberland work has set a new course for Iron Age settlement archaeology in the area, and created stimulating models of Rome's impact. In extracting such interesting stories from such plough-damaged sites, the authors are to be highly commended.