The majority of humanity have lived out their lives in a 'rural' context, and even in our increasingly urbanised world almost half of the global population still live in rural areas. In the European Iron Age, the vast mass of the population clearly lived in small hamlets and farmsteads, and this overarching 'rurality' is important for understanding these societies. While there has been a pronounced focus in recent archaeological research on patterns of centralisation and urbanisation, there is a need to reincorporate 'rural life' or rurality into these discussions of how people lived. This book is a contribution to the study of rural life in Iron Age Europe, collating case studies extending from southern Spain to northern Scotland and from Denmark to the Balkans. Papers are grouped thematically to open up cross-regional comparisons, ranging across studies of buildings, farms - the basic unit of Iron Age life consisting of its inhabitants, its livestock and associated agricultural lands - to wider settlement patterns and land use strategies. The 29 papers in this volume discuss the disposition, form and organisation of rural settlements, as well as underlying social and economic networks, illustrating both the variability between regions, and also common themes in cultural, economic and social interactions. This volume provides an up-to-date overview of current research, presenting new results for the Iron Age specialist as well as a wider audience interested in the rich tapestry of rural settlement in Europe.ContentsExploring rural settlement in Iron Age Europe - An introductionDave Cowley, Manuel Fernández-Götz, Tanja Romankiewicz & Holger WendlingBeyond the site: settlement systems and territoriesRegional settlement entities or terroirs in Late Iron Age northern FranceAlexandra ConyRegional aspects of landscape exploitation and settlement structure in Denmark in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron AgeMads RungeIron Age settlement in mid-west IrelandKatharina BeckerRecent research on the Arras Culture in its landscape settingPeter HalkonSettlement and landscape in the Iron Age of eastern IberiaIgnasi Grau MiraApproaching Late Iron Age rural landscapes: New ways of looking at the archaeological record in the southeast Iberian PeninsulaLeticia López-MondéjarFrom hut to factory: models of rural occupation in the Lower Guadalquivir valley during the 1st millennium BCEduardo Ferrer-Albelda, Francisco José García-Fernández & José Luis Ramos-SoldadoSpace and place in the Early Iron Age in eastern BurgundyRégis LabeauneSettlement units and buildingsThe chronology of wetland settlement and its impact on Iron Age settlement dynamics in southwest ScotlandGraeme Cavers & Anne CroneSettlement nucleation and farmstead stabilisation in the NetherlandsKaren M. de VriesTurf worlds: Towards understanding an understudied building material in rural Iron Age architecture - some thoughts in a Scottish contextTanja RomankiewiczThe concept of 'house' and 'settlement' in the Iron Age of the middle Tisza regionPéter F. KovácsHouse or workshop? A case study of two pit-houses at the Iron Age settlement site of Micha?owice, Kazimierza Wielka county (Poland)Jan Bulas, Micha? Kasi?ski & Gabriela Ju?wi?skaLate Iron Age settlement in HungaryKároly Tankó & L?rinc TimárAt the fringes of the La Tène world - The Late Iron Age rural occupation of the Banat region, RomaniaAndrei GeorgescuLate Iron Age rural settlements in southern PannoniaIvan Drni?Meillionydd: a Late Bronze and Iron Age double ringwork enclosure in northwest WalesKatharina Möller & Raimund KarlThe changing patterns of La Tène Farmsteads in Central and Western continental EuropeAngelika MeckingRural settlement patterns in urbanised Areas: The oppidum of ManchingThimo J. BrestelStatus and settlement hierarchyRural residential places? Rethinking the Fürstensitze-elites correlationManuel Fernández-Götz & Ian RalstonMiddle and Late La Tène rural aristocratic establishments in Gaul: plans and organisationStephan FichtlScordiscan stronghold: A Late Iron Age multiple fortification at Ba?ka Palanka in northern SerbiaHolger WendlingThe emergence of oppida in Celtiberia: The case study of Los Rodiles (Guadalajara, Spain)Marta Chordá, Álvaro Sánchez-Climent, Emilio Gamo & María Luisa CerdeñoNew tools and perspectivesMicrotopographies of Dacian upland settlement strategies and community aggregation trends in the Or??tie Mountains, RomaniaIoana A. Oltean & João FonteA structured Iron Age landscape in the hinterland of Kne?ak, SloveniaBo?tjan Laharnar, Edisa Lozi? & Benjamin ?tularAround the Münsterberg: How online tools help us to rethink our dataLoup BernardArchaeology, landscapes, and heritage in the southeast Iberian Peninsula: The ALHIS projectLeticia López-MondéjarRural domestic patterns in northwest Iberia: An ethnoarchaeological approach to Iron Age household layoutLucía Ruano & Luis Berrocal-Rangel
