In search of the Iron Age

The tenth Iron Age Research Student Seminar (IARSS) held at the University of Leicester in 2008 was the latest in the illustrious history of this remarkable forum. The origins of the conference are publicized in each of the volumes of the proceedings that have been published to date but it is appropriate that we briefly note them once more here. The first IARSS was held in 1998 at University of Wales, Newport, with the proceedings being published in 2003 in conjunction with those of the subsequent conferences at Southampton and Leicester (Humphrey 2003). Since that time IARSS has been held all around Britain: Durham (2001), Glasgow (2002), York (2004), Edinburgh (2005), Cardiff (2006) and Southampton (2007). Unfortunately the only other volume of proceedings to make it into print from all these conferences is that from the excellent 2006 Cardiff conference (Davis et al. 2008). The Seminar has a prestigious heritage and many of the early presenters have gone on to take places in academia, chairing sessions and guiding their students to participation in the IARSS tradition. One of the aims of the first IARSS was to broaden the base of Iron Age studies and involve a wide range of individuals and interests from within British Archaeology. This has continued within recent years and the Leicester 2008 conference in particular managed to attract a very broad base of interest. The scope of the conference has expanded now to cover Europe not just in terms of attendees but also of studies. It shows the range and community of Iron Age archaeology has continued to grow, and that it is truly a European forum in which we operate.