Tristan Hughes

A land of so-called barbarians, living rudimentary lives on the edge of the known world.

But we now know that that's not quite right.

Across Britain, objects have been pulled from rivers and earth that tell a different story.

Objects so intricate and so deliberate, crafted by highly sophisticated pre-Roman societies, each with their own traditions, their own beliefs.

It is archaeology that has started to shine an incredible light on who these Iron Age Britons actually were and how they lived.

New discoveries are being unearthed and revealed to the world for the first time in more than 2,000 years.

We are in a golden age for Iron Age archaeology.

It is archaeology that is revealing a world of striking elites, both men and women, of complex settlements, beautiful metalwork, long-distance trade, and of profound beliefs that shaped entire landscapes.

It's this archaeology that we're going to delve into today.

Welcome to the Ancients.

I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and this is an introduction to the exciting yet still very mysterious world of Iron Age Britain.

Our guest is Durham University's Professor Tom Moore, one of the leading experts on Iron Age Britain.

Tom, it is such a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

Lovely to see you again, Tristan.

It's been too long since we last chatted.

We chatted all things that amazing discovery, the Melson B. Hoard, which I gather is going on display very, very soon.

And so people understand the Melsenby hoard, we did a whole film on it with you and other key people involved in the project.

But this is one of the largest, the most significant Iron Age discoveries in the north of England in recent years.

Well, nerdy is what we want beyond the ancients.

I don't know why we're going to be doing much more of that nitty gritty detail on Iron Age Britain.