Iron Age Scotland 700 B.C. to 500 A.D.

The technique of iron working differs greatly from bronze working. Unlike bronze, iron is unsuitable for use with moulds. It crystallises and becomes too brittle to make into tools or weapons. Instead it has to be heated slowly and hammered into shape. Then it has to be plunged into cold water to stop the development of weak points. This is a complicated process compared to working with bronze and the method appears to have originated in Asia Minor around 1400 B.C. From there it gradually spread, reaching Scotland about 700 B.C. Migrants and settlers possibly brought the new techniques with them and it would have been adopted in different areas at varying times.

The Hallstatt and La Tene peoples are generally believed to have introduced iron working to Britain. Not only did these people, often referred to as Celts, bring new metal techniques, they also brought new buildings. Fortified hill forts were built; a sign that life was not peaceful. On lochs, platforms supporting a round house were built. These 'crannogs' were connected to the shore by a wooden bridge, which, in times of conflict, could be easily severed. A high fence surrounded villages which contained a dozen or so houses. In some places where wood was scarce, stone was used to construct the dwellings and protective walls. Large circular stone buildings, wide at the base and narrowing toward the top, with a small entrance were often built. Easily defended and capable of holding cattle as well as people, the ruins of 'brochs' can still be seen today. In some areas, underground stone cellars are associated with above ground dwellings. The huge amount of timber needed for the structures of the times possibly led to huge clearing of the forests. (One defensive enclosure in the Borders required 2600 timber uprights - a lot of trees!)

Iron Age society, like the Bronze Age, was an agricultural one. However, from the number of fortified buildings, we can presume that tribal warfare and cattle stealing were common. The ability to use iron was terribly important to the development of civilisation. The hardness of iron permits superior implements to be made. But it is also from this period that we see the beginning of Celtic art. La Tene carvings contain beautiful, flowing curvilinear patterns and were applied to metalwork of all kinds and pottery. It is also worthwhile to note that La Tene pottery was often made with a potter's wheel rather than being hand-built. It is possible that this was another skill they introduced to Britain.

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