Later Iron Age Coinage in Britain: Reconstructing Insular Social Structures and Systems of Value

This thesis compares numismatic and archaeological evidence from different regions of Britain in order to investigate the changes in systems of values that occurred in the late Iron Age and how these reflect transformations in endogenous social structures. Coins began to be systematically imported into Britain from Gaul during the 2nd century BC. Local gold production began in the early 1st century BC, in conjunction with the development of new settlements forms and the intensification of relations with the Roman world. The chronology of the adoption of coinage was not uniform across Britain and different regional outcomes are visible in the use of metals and imagery. Different sets of data, including coins from excavated sites, hoards, and metal detector finds are studied in order to attain a wider understanding of patterns of distribution and deposition, and to identify regional trends and variations in the character and use of coins. The thesis explores how the introduction of coins into Britain contributed to the development of diverse forms of authority, and fostered competitive processes based on local concepts of possession, status, and power. Social changes at the end of the 1st millennium BC are interpreted as a combination of the assimilation, selective reception or total rejection of continental traits, and endogenous transformations in the local systems of value.