Pattern and purpose in Iron Age East Yorkshire

This thesis presents a holistic study of Middle-Late Iron Age material culture from East Yorkshire (UK). It analyses the decoration, or pattern, of a whole range of different types of objects in order to answer the question; ‘what did pattern do?’. A database of over 4600 plain and patterned objects has been compiled using information from museum databases, published literature, unpublished reports and the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. Analysis of this database showed that patterns found on some objects are inextricably linked to the materials they are made from the broad purposes of objects and the ways they were eventually deposited. An in-depth investigation into the biographies and itineraries of a sample of objects has allowed for further exploration of the development of the relationship between pattern and purpose during the ‘lives’ of objects. This multi-scalar analysis has led to the conclusion that pattern did different three things in Iron Age East Yorkshire. It allowed craftspeople to engage with materials in specific ways; to adhere to tradition and function within design rules whilst also creating individualised objects. Pattern also contributed to the overall purposes of objects during use and deposition. Finally, pattern was an important part of the accumulation of biographies; a process that added value and significance to objects. This work contributes to new directions of scholarship currently being pursued in the study of decorated Iron Age objects by reintegrating many famous Early Celtic Art objects from East Yorkshire with the full material assemblage in which they once belonged, providing them with context and directing attention towards lesser-studied groups of objects.