Fantastic hillforts and where to find them: a region-based landscape analysis of the Iron Age in Britain and the methods we use to assess the past
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis is concerned with the persistence of Iron Age landscapes today, and the methods we use to assess these landscapes. I look at both the computational and phenomenological methods that we use to quantify and understand the past – investigating concepts of regionality – and assess the suitability of these approaches in two regions, Cornwall and East Anglia. These two methods are rooted in different theoretical approaches in archaeology – processualism and post-processualism respectively, and as such are often posed in opposition to each other. In this sense this thesis is divided into two thematic parts, but in a conscious attempt to remove the perceived dichotomy that is often proliferated between these two approaches, both the history and reviews of these research schools, and more importantly my own analysis, have been combined and presented in synthesis, to emphasise the connectivity between these two methods, much like the regional connectivity being investigated. I performed visibility analysis on the two regions– one of the most popular computational methods within archaeology. I then both walked and ran between focus sites in each region, drawing on my own expertise as an ultra-marathon runner, and compared these times to those generated through computational GIS-based analysis. My results show that the relationships between the sites in these two geographically disparate and contrasting regions are remarkably similar, reinforcing themes of connectivity in the Iron Age, but showing diversity in the use of the landscape that also reinforces regionality as a key theme for the Iron Age. The reflexive reintroduction of the phenomenological into the GIS used in this thesis offers a unique approach to landscape analysis in the Iron Age. I conclude that, for the Cornwall region, where the landscape remains remarkably unchanged since prehistory, and where the terrain is extremely variable even over short distances, that phenomenological methods are recommend…
abstract: This thesis is concerned with the persistence of Iron Age landscapes today, and the methods we use to assess these landscapes. I look at both the computational and phenomenological methods that we use to quantify and understand the past – investigating concepts of regionality – and assess the suitability of these approaches in two regions, Cornwall and East Anglia. These two methods are rooted in different theoretical approaches in archaeology – processualism and post-processualism respectively, and as such are often posed in opposition to each other. In this sense this thesis is divided into two thematic parts, but in a conscious attempt to remove the perceived dichotomy that is often proliferated between these two approaches, both the history and reviews of these research schools, and more importantly my own analysis, have been combined and presented in synthesis, to emphasise the connectivity between these two methods, much like the regional connectivity being investigated. I performed visibility analysis on the two regions– one of the most popular computational methods within archaeology. I then both walked and ran between focus sites in each region, drawing on my own expertise as an ultra-marathon runner, and compared these times to those generated through computational GIS-based analysis. My results show that the relationships between the sites in these two geographically disparate and contrasting regions are remarkably similar, reinforcing themes of connectivity in the Iron Age, but showing diversity in the use of the landscape that also reinforces regionality as a key theme for the Iron Age. The reflexive reintroduction of the phenomenological into the GIS used in this thesis offers a unique approach to landscape analysis in the Iron Age. I conclude that, for the Cornwall region, where the landscape remains remarkably unchanged since prehistory, and where the terrain is extremely variable even over short distances, that phenomenological methods are recommend…
author: Peters, Georgina
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/8c7c5530-3504-4ba3-b98a-b2abdb004d9c/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved/
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:14Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.119223