import/export trade in Iron age culture

[close to the edge]

From local workshops came the spectacular metalwork with which the elite decorated their bodies - armlets, pins and brooches, carved mirrors and, not least,the heavy gear without which no self-respecting British warrior would step into his war-chariot; sword hilts and horned helmets figured with curling patterns like unfurlin ferns or the astonishing stylised bronze horses, endearingly melancholy in expression like so many Eeyores resigned to a bad day in battle.
These ancient tribal cultures were not just warring, but trading with each other. It used to be thought that these finely wrought works of art had been brought by a great celtic migration, travelling from central and northern Europe around 500BC and awakening the sleepily primitive natives of the islands to a higher state of culture. But we now know that this sophisticated culture of warriors, druid-priests and artists developed spontaneously within Britain itself, importing - and also exporting - within trade zones that divided the island longitudinally: western Scotland and Wales south all the way to Brittany; southeastern England with northern Gaul and the Low Countries. So this was, in all imprtant ways, an indigenous british culture, which had evolved in contact with, rather than having been conquered or settled by, continental Europe. Iron Age Britain, after all, had grown up on sites that had been occupied for thousands of years. Although the stone henges and burial barrows that marked the landscape had been built at least a millennium before, it seems likely that ritual practices still took place on these ancient sites.

[Sniper]

Very interesting - but what is the point of this article exactly ?

[close to the edge]

I had exactly the same feelings about the previous post, re building. I began thinking that a regular,
" vaguely interesting but unconnected to anything preceding " thread might be diverting.
Perhaps a post about ' Steam Railways under Dr Beeching ' could be next, Snipes ? Now THAT I would read!

[Sniper]

Good Idea CTTE but I don't think the majority of readers of KOL would be interested in the finer details of, in my own opinion, "The Wasted Opportunity" or "How to Destroy a Countries Infrastructure"

[miglia]

We nearly had a branch line and GWR station that we could have lamented the loss of

[Sniper]

Miglia is of course referring to a little known GWR proposal of 1924 blocked by Seison Rural District Council as follows:

Continued shortages after the war and the backlog of engineering works caused further delays.
The GWR sought an extension to the time limit to build the line in 1924. This was denied by
Seisdon Rural District Council and the time extension was dropped, as were additional proposals
to build a Kinver branch to the line. The GWR promised to have the line ready by 18th December
1924.

Source
http://www.sstaffs.gov.uk/pdf/Railway%2 ... 0small.pdf

[close to the edge]

You see, now you're getting the hang of it! No preamble, just straight to the point ! That's interesting already !

The next subject is :-

[Sniper]

May I respectfully suggest........................."The art of making up rules to suit one's own agenda"..............................Over to you

[close to the edge]

And may I respectfully suggest that 'making up rules to suit one's own agenda', has been you 'modus operandi' for many years, LOL, but the whole point of this thread [and the previous] is that there is no agenda !
Anywho, it's a decent enough subject; so off you go . . . .

[Sniper]

My "modus operandi" ? - Takes one to know one I'm told

I'm going down the pub to seek inspiration