The Visibility of Imported Wine and Its Associated Accoutrements in Later Iron Age Britain

This volume deals with the appearance of an imported commodity and its associated accoutrements in Later Iron Age Britain. Wine begins to appear in the archaeological record in southern Britain in the early first century BC. Wine is so much part of the culture of the classical world that its appearance in Britain cannot be seen in isolation. Part 1 of this work sets the scene by examining the ancient sources and looks into the influence of the god of wine, Dionysios, and his Roman counterpart, Bacchus. The literary and archaeological evidence for wine in temperate Europe (Iron Age France) is also briefly reviewed. Part 2 contains a detailed consideration of the evidence and contexts of wine in Late Iron Age Britain, including, crucially, wine use at ritual and ceremonial sites. The author suggests that the use of wine in burials was one of the major forces driving wine imports into Britain at this time.