Table Of ContentIconoclasm and Later Prehistory
Iconoclasm, or the destruction of images and other symbols, is a subject that has
significant resonance today. Traditionally focusing on examples such as those from
late Antiquity, Byzantium, the Protestant Reformation and the French Revolution,
iconoclasm implies intentioned attacks that reflect religious or political motiva-
tions. However, the evidence highlights considerable variation in intentionality,
the types and levels of destruction and the targets attacked. Such variation has
been highlighted in recent iconoclasm scholarship and this has resulted in new
theoretical frameworks for its study.
This book presents the first analysis of iconoclasm for prehistoric periods.
Through an examination of the themes of objects, the human body, monuments and
landscapes, the book demonstrates how the application of the approaches devel-
oped within iconoclasm studies can enrich our understanding of earlier periods
in addition to identifying specific events that may be categorised as iconoclastic.
Iconoclasm and Later Prehistory combines approaches from two distinct dis-
ciplinary perspectives. It presents a new interpretative framework for prehistori-
ans and archaeologists, whilst also providing new case studies and significantly
extending the period of interest for readers interested in iconoclasm.
Henry Chapman is Reader in Archaeology at the University of Birmingham. His
principal research interests are later prehistory, bog bodies, iconoclasm, wetland
archaeology and the application of digital technologies to the study of the past. He
is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
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Iconoclasm and
Later Prehistory
Henry Chapman
First published 2018
by Routledge
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© 2018 Henry Chapman
The right of Henry Chapman to be identified as author of this work has been
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN: 9781138038707 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781315177236 (ebk)
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For Jackie, Sam, Freddie and Kittie
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Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables x
Preface xi
1 Iconoclasm 1
2 Breaking objects 34
3 Breaking bodies 74
4 Breaking monuments 119
5 Breaking landscapes 156
6 Iconoclasm and later prehistory? 188
Bibliography 197
Index 229
Figures
1.1 Scales of intentionality and agency in acts of iconoclasm 30
2.1 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to the
smashing, snapping or stabbing of objects 42
2.2 The four surviving fragments of the broken stone head
from Mšecké Žehrovice. The fifth fragment was never found 43
2.3 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to the
bending or buckling of objects 47
2.4 Various levels of bending experienced by Iron Age swords 48
2.5 Bent sword from a La Tène grave at Farre in Denmark 49
2.6 Locations of cart/chariot burials from north-eastern England 52
2.7 Examples of dismantled and intact cart/chariot burials 54
2.8 The Gundestrup cauldron 58
2.9 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to the
deposition of objects, showing those associated with burials
and those from other contexts 62
3.1 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to bodies
in life 76
3.2 The grave of the Egtved Girl showing her clothes,
adornments and other grave goods 81
3.3 Elling Woman’s elaborate hairstyle 85
3.4 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to conflict 92
3.5 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to human
sacrifice 96
3.6 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to the
deposition of human remains in cemeteries and related
contexts 108
3.7 Locations of sites mentioned in the text relating to other
forms of deposition of human remains 111
Figures ix
3.8 Huldremose Woman, showing the injury to her right arm 113
4.1 Locations of British hillforts and associated monuments
mentioned in the text 122
4.2 The architecture of the marsh fort on Sutton Common,
South Yorkshire 127
4.3 The development of the hillfort at Quarley Hill, Hampshire,
between the eighth and fifth centuries bc 131
4.4 Phases in the development of the hillfort at Danebury in
Hampshire 134
4.5 One of the stakes from the site of Beccles in Suffolk,
showing evidence of carpentry 139
4.6 Locations of the excavated sites at Beccles, Barsham
and Geldeston, showing the conjectured continuations
of the monuments 140
4.7 Locations mentioned in the text relating to sacred sites,
showing the positions of those within hillforts and
settlements, those located outside or adjacent to settlements
and those from other contexts 144
5.1 The later prehistoric fields surrounding the village of
Edenthorpe near Doncaster in South Yorkshire 165
5.2 The distribution of pit-alignments in the area of Catholme
and Whitemoor Haye, at the confluence of the Rivers
Trent, Tame and Mease in Staffordshire, revealed by crop
marks and excavation 167
5.3 Later prehistoric fields cut by a first-century Roman road in
South Yorkshire, between the villages of Rossington to the
north and Austerfield to the south 175
5.4 The surviving lower part of one of the larger posts from the
marsh fort on Sutton Common, South Yorkshire 177
