Principal Christine Shaw
This section presents a set of results, being the outcomes, both large and small, of a range of experiments carried out over the years. While many feel that such results constrain the imagination, in fact the consequence is quite the opposite, as a secure basis for meaningful interpretation is provided (Nature of Experiment).
This is nowhere better epitomised than in knowing, from cereal yield experiments, that British Iron Age men and women were far from the brink of starvation, in fact quite the contrary. Through having a grain surplus, a thriving export trade could secure the import of all the artefacts known from excavation and the presence of which would be hard to explain. On the social and cultural front, effort could therefore be released to allow development of specialised skills, the artisanal infrastructure and the cultural superstructure.
Created 01 August 2001 - Updated 11 March 2002