- Inevitably, there are two approaches to identifying and quantifying the occurrence of conflict and violence in the region. The first is rooted in the literary sources. These include accounts left by Roman observers, whose interpretations are based on reports made at the time or shortly after their encounters with indigenous Iron Age communities. They also include evidence obtained from the mythic literature of the Celtic nations – most notably Wales and Ireland – which is believed to represent the final iteration of a long-lived oral tradition, set down as written text in the Early Historic period, in a largely Christianised society.
- The second approach comprises evidence obtained archaeologically, the sites and monuments and the material culture that Iron Age people left behind. Archaeologically, the site that has always dominated the literature is the hillfort at Burnswark. This site, perhaps more than any other, hints at the overwhelming levels of violence and conflict that were at times imposed by the Romans during their various military adventures in South West Scotland. We have evidence of siegeworks. We have evidence for the use of lead bullets (‘glandes’), which were slung from catapults into the hillfort. The character of Roman military activity is dealt with elsewhere. But a better understanding of how indigenous Iron Age settlement and defensive structures such as Burnswark functioned and inter-related with their hinterland prior to the arrival of the Romans is also vital to a better understanding of the Roman siege works. That is, was the hillfort occupied and in regular use at the time of the siege, or had it already been largely abandoned and was being used only as a refuge of last resort by the local population.
- Both Roman accounts and later Celtic literature portray Iron Age society as ruled by a warrior elite, vain and swaggering and prone to exaggeration, quick-tempered and reactionary, with small-scale fights and disagreements often settled by single combat between tribal champions. This has led to the assumption that the prominent boundaries – whether they take the form of ditches or ramparts – found around various categories of settlement (such as forts like Auldhill, duns, brochs like Doon Castle, Ardwell and homesteads like Gourock Burn) were for defensive purposes. Likewise, the lacustrine and marine siting of crannogs like Buiston and Loch Arthur has also been explained in defensive terms.
- More recently, this assumption has been questioned. The concept of the monumental roundhouse structure suggests that the prominent walls and ditches associated with sites like Boonies or Carronbridge were declarations of status and separation. They potentially marked prominent households or lineages in a society that was becoming increasingly stratified. The evidence from Burnswark suggests that at some point, relations with Rome soured or that initial encounters were violent. This does not mean, however, that encounters with the Roman occupiers remained negative; instead, items of Roman origin were acquired by indigenous communities and used in their existing routine and ritual practices. The hoard of mixed Roman and indigenous metalwork from Carlingwark Loch demonstrates this particularly well. So well, in fact, that it was once argued extensively that this offering must have been made by auxiliaries attached to a Roman legion rather than by the community or communities living around (and possibly on, as the presence of a crannog has been mooted there) the loch.
- What we perceive as ‘the Iron Age’ began before the Roman occupation of Scotland, of course, so where does the almost-cliched model of the Celtic warrior elite fit in at this stage? The discovery of a miniature wooden sword, too small to be held by an adult hand, from the enigmatic enclosure site at Over Rig, Upper Eskdale, suggests that some (if not all) children and young people were taught fighting skills from an early age. Perhaps the abandonment of this toy in an environment consistent with votive deposition formed part of a formal transition process from childhood into adulthood.
- Once these ‘warriors’ reached adulthood, there is a strong suggestion that some wore flamboyant ornaments, with torcs and necklets like the Lochar Moss collar being particularly good examples. They had pairs of ponies pulling chariots adorned with decorated bridle-bits and sometimes flamboyant harness-fittings, such as the enamelled rein-ring or terret from Auchendolly. Perhaps, on occasion, their chariot teams flaunted a pony cap or chamfrein like the example from Torrs. Their swords might be carried in scabbards decorated with bronze sheaths, like the example from Bargany. All these items would be perceived as martial in character to modern eyes. All of them are certainly eye-catching, and moreover, they display a common artistic style which can be traced over much of western Europe. What escapes us is the context of their use: was everyone equipped in this way, or were only certain individuals entitled to flaunt this type of ornament, and if so, was it only used on certain occasions? What we see is what was placed in the ground as an act of votive offering, and only detailed use-wear analysis can give insights into how well-worn an object was. Even so, wear could have resulted from limited and occasional use over an extended period, rather than intensive and short-term use. It suggests, though, that some members of the community did have a social persona that contained an element of military – some might say, heroic – prowess which was celebrated more widely through material culture forms and public display and action.
- It is perhaps telling, though, that in an area which can be characterised by the complex variation in its settlement types, only two tribal groups were recognised by the Romans: the Damnonii and the Novantae. This would suggest that communities that expressed themselves in quite different ways nonetheless came together to form a larger tribal affiliation, with – it is suggested – regional centres located variously at Burnswark and Walls Hill, Renfrewshire. How these two groups interacted with the Romans also varied: Roman military presence is much more prominent in the lands thought to be occupied by the Novantae than it is in the lands of the Damnonii. While evidence relating to the Roman occupation of the northern part of the region may remain yet undiscovered, it seems increasingly likely that the lack of military infrastructure reflects an entirely different approach by the Romans, something that remains under-explored.
- One final aspect of Iron Age society remains to be confronted. This is violence through ritual, including the possible use of human victims for sacrifice. Bog bodies are a well-known example of this phenomenon, although several possible examples, potentially Iron Age in date, have been noted in various contexts within the region. One potential context for deposition is provided by wet places. Human remains have been recovered from an area of Lochar Moss that also produced a spectacular piece of Iron Age metalwork and Roman coins (Cowie et al 2011). Another potential example is presented by Borness Cave, where fragmentary human remains, including two skulls, were found in association with a varied range of material culture. This included bone and coarse stone artefacts, as well as dateable objects (a Samian Ware cup, a bronze brooch and a fragment of glass armlet) which indicated that some of the activity on-site had taken place in the period spanning the 1st to 2nd century AD.
- The presence of fragmented human remains can be seen as part of potentially structured deposits where the destruction and manipulation of the human body was ‘recognised as having social power and agency, an expression of performative violence’ (Redfern 2020). Such use of human remains is being increasingly recognised in Iron Age contexts, with some of the larger hillfort sites in southern England revealing the deposition of human remains alongside animal skeletons in boundary ditches or pits. It is entirely possible that the Lochar Moss finds form part of a similar tradition. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the cremated remains recovered from within or beneath a roundhouse structure in the settlement of Adie’s Brae, Moffat, which derived from a man aged over seventeen years old, represent a similar practice rather than evidence of a formal burial rite.