ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the varied forms of fragmentation encountered in Iron Age (IA) archaeological assemblages from Britain, examining the range of phenomena that the word ‘fragmentation’ can describe. It will focus on a specific fragmentation practice identified within an assemblage of Middle-Late Iron Age (LIA) metalwork (c. 400 BCE–100 CE), encompassing weapons, chariot fittings and personal ornament, for example. Recent investigations have suggested that some of these complex, composite objects were assembled from components of dismantled objects as part of wider processes of repair and modification. The chapter will discuss the potential motivations behind this practice. By placing IA fragmentation practices into their broader later prehistoric context, it will then look at how new technologies of fragmentation developed along with new object types, discussing the creative processes they entailed, and asking the question, ‘what is the difference between dismantling and fragmentation?’.
