The Iron Age was seen as a time filled with war and conflict due to the writings of classical authors. War, as defined by the Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, is "a particular type of political relationship between groups, in which groups use or threaten to use deadly force against each other in pursuit of their objectives. The war that took place in Iron Age Britain may have been more of a threat than the actual infliction of violence. Prehistoric people might have viewed combat more as a ceremonial practice. Ceremonial warfare would have demonstrated that the warrior or community was courageous and willing to fight. Furthermore, any actual violence that took place could have taken the form of small skirmishes and not a full-fledged war. By examining the evidence of the weapons and injuries inflicted on the buried individuals, it can be hypothesized that they were not waging war with the primary goal of defeating their enemies. Small skirmishes in the Iron Age might have taken place, but rather than being wars they were probably more like raids. This would likely have occurred between communities located near each other. The random skirmishes that occurred would not have prepared them for what they faced when the Romans invaded and began waging a full-blown war. The Romans brought with them the type of violent action that we today think of as war. Due to their reliance on sources such as Tacitus and Caesar, archaeologists and historians have developed a biased view of Iron Age warfare. However, how much of this war took place and for what purpose can and should be debated. The actual number of fights that took place can only be...... middle of paper ......itisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/highlights/wittenham-sword.html>.Avery, M 1993. Hillfort Defenses of Southern Britain. British Archaeological Report 231Bowden, M. and McOmish, D. 1987. The required barrier, Scottish Archaeological Review 4: 76-84. Giles, Melanie. Glamor forged: landscape, identity and material culture in the Iron Age. Bollington: Windgather, 2012. Print.JAY, M., HASELGROVE, C., HAMILTON, D., HILL, JD and DENT, J. (2012), CARTS AND CONTEXT: NEW WETWANG RADIOCARBON DATES AND THE TIMELINE OF THE IRON AGE Burials and brooches in East Yorkshire. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 31: 161-189. British Museum – The Sword of Kirkburn. 2013. British Museum – The Kirkburn Sword. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/t/the_kirkburn_sword.aspx. [Accessed December 12 2013].