Kirjahaku

‘There are huge gaps in our understanding of the lives of the Silures … Despite what is in many instances a glaring lack of evidence, I’ve increasingly become convinced that trying to tease out what we can about the social structure of these people offers one of our best avenues to understanding them better.’Silures explores exciting new discoveries and changing interpretations to give an up-to-date analysis of the Iron Age peoples of south-east Wales.From ‘the study of stuff’, new evidence of trade and commerce and archaeological discoveries, to the suggestion of a new research agenda and a consideration of Silurian resonances in modern Wales, Ray Howell’s insights are based on personal observations and his own research activities, including excavations in the Silurian region.

The Silures, the Iron Age tribe of south-east Wales, are described by Roman sources as among the most implacable foes of Roman expansion. The remarkable Silurian War, a protracted and surprisingly successful guerrilla campaign, saw the advancing legions kept at bay for a quarter of a century. In this important new book, Dr Ray Howell examines our current knowledge of these fascinating but enigmatic people. The Silures emerge as a resilient and sophisticated clan-based tribal confederation. Their martial traditions, reflected in their material culture including artefacts such as the red enamelled trappings of their chariots, found expression in their remarkable resistance to Roman seizure of their lands. Elements of their traditions survived the extended period of occupation which followed the Roman conquest to be reasserted in post-Roman south-east Wales. The story of the Silures is one of the most gripping to have come down to us from later British prehistory. This fully illustrated new account tells that story.