Priority 1: The comprehensive application of more robust radiocarbon dating strategies, which incorporate Bayesian statistical modelling, are therefore needed to add clarity to site and landscape chronologies. A historical reliance on the perceived chronological security associated with the Roman presence combined with radiocarbon plateaux (800–400 BC, 400–200 BC and AD 150–350) present an ongoing challenge for building Iron Age chronologies, detecting social, economic and environmental change and understanding the transitions into and out of this important period.
Priority 2: Nationally, the first few centuries of the Iron Age are poorly understood and although this region is no exception, recent projects, such as Living on Water, evidence the potential with the application of new techniques for understanding in this region to be improved and at the same time to make a contribution to outstanding national questions. Accurate dating of archaeological evidence to 800–600 BC is of great importance for understanding the transition of lifeways, architectural traditions and technology from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.