_{HOW DID IRON AGE PEOPLE LIVE?}

When the Romans first arrived in Britain they wrote about the religion of the ancient Britons. They described four of their main festivals:

. Imbolc was held in February to welcome the birth of the first lambs

. Beltane was celebrated in May, when the cattle were moved to their summer fields

. Lugnassad was held in August to celebrate the ripening of the crops.

Samhain took place in November and marked the end of the year.



The Battersea shield was found in the River Thames. It was almost certainly thrown into the river as an offering to the spirits. Thousands of precious offerings have been found in British lakes, rivers and bogs.

In the iron age many people lived in hill forts. Inside hill forts,families lived

in round houses.

These were simple one-roomed homes with a pointed thatched roof and walls made

from wattle and daub (a mixture of mud and twigs).