The Celtic Warrior: Assemblages of Violence in the Iron Age by Professor Melanie Giles

Popular understandings of the Celtic Iron Age are dominated by violence: moustachioed warriors, noble in defeat or war-crazed charioteers, brandishing swords and shields. All too often these images are drawn from the classical world, serving their own ends: justifying the colonisation of what the Romans saw as bloodthirsty martial races, and promising order and prosperity through the Pax Romana. These images and stories matter not just because they continued to shape stereotypes of Celtic nations in later centuries but because archaeological evidence forms the evidence-base used by historians, sociologists and philosophers to shed light on the nature of humanity itself and the degree to which violence is an innate part of our nature, certain groups of people or particular forms of society.

This lecture tackles the stereotype of the Celtic warrior with archaeological evidence.

Delivered by the most outstanding academics in the UK and beyond, the British Academy’s flagship Lecture programme showcases the very best scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. This event is part of the Albert Reckitt Archaeological Lectures on archaeological research, first delivered in 1951.

The Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, in coordination with The British Academy, is delighted to announce that the Summer 2026 public lecture will be delivered by Professor Melanie Giles FBA.

Professor Melanie Giles FBA is an archaeologist and author, specialising in British prehistory and the Iron Age. She is known for her work on funerary archaeology, including books on Iron Age burial, Bog Bodies and Grave Goods. She works extensively with museums and schools, collaborating with creative practitioners to find inspiring ways to tell important stories from the past which enhance knowledge, connect people with the places they live in, and open up important conversations around life and death in the present.