November: British Iron Age equitation, a practical analysis!
Dr Rena Maguire is joining us for a Zoom talk on the 4th November at 2pm.
(copyright Trustees of the British Museum)
The archaeological record of Britain contains numerous highly decorative Iron Age snaffles and other pieces of equestrian equipment which have sometimes been interpreted in fanciful ways. However, by blending practical stable yard know-how and new archaeological analyses on the equipment, we can start to ‘see’ the very real humans beside their horses. This overview of later prehistoric tack in Britain offers some insight into changing societies and technologies, and how it relates to contemporary equitation in Europe and Ireland – and why it matters!
Tickets are £3. To book a ticket, please register with Eventbrite here
Dr Maguire gained her PhD at QUB, and is currently an IRC-Funded Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in University College Dublin, Ireland. She specialises in Iron Age material culture of western Europe, particularly metalwork, but especially ancient equitation and lorinery and has published extensively on these topics, including the Times Literary Supplement-recommended Liminal Horse (Trivent publications), and Irish Late Iron Age Equestrian Equipment in its Insular and Continental Context (Archaeopress), with an edited volume, Ideal Homes, on domestic artefacts, due in early 2024. She once told a funding body she wanted to do a PhD because, ” shiny things!” and was not surprised they turned her down that time. She likes horses and dogs and getting up to all kinds of archaeomischief with her mates.
