The deposition of miniature weaponry in Iron Age Lincolnshire

To appreciate the significance of miniatures, we must remove them from the category of archaeological curiosities and return them to their wider social and landscape contexts. This chapter considers miniature weaponry deposition as part of the wider phenomenon of metalwork deposition in Iron Age Lincolnshire (c. 800 BCE-50 CE). This approach reveals a sharp chronological and geographical distinction between the deposition of full-size weapons and their miniature counterparts. Full-size weapons are well represented at Middle Iron Age river causeway sites, but as settlement-based deposition became common in the Late Iron Age, votive offerings of weapons underwent a transformation of scale. While full-size weaponry was almost entirely excluded from deposition in settlements, miniatures seem to have been appropriate offerings. These shifts in the nature of depositional practices are explored in relation to contemporary social changes, such as the development of large, agglomerated settlements, as Late Iron Age societies in Lincolnshire were drawn into an ever closer relationship with the Classical world. Cet article considère l’armement miniature comme faisant partie du phénomène plus vaste du dépôt d’objets métalliques dans les tombes de l’Âge de fer dans le Lincolnshire (env. 800 av. J.-C.-50 ap. J.-C.). Une approche qui examine les miniatures en rapport avec les contextes paysagers et sociaux révèle une distinction chronologique et géographique nette entre les dépôts d’armes grandeur nature et leur contrepartie en miniature. Ces changements sont examinés en relation avec les changements sociaux contemporains, tels que le développement des grandes agglomérations, alors que les sociétés de l’Âge de fer tardif du Lincolnshire entretenaient des rapports toujours plus étroits avec le monde classique