The Iron Age was perceived as a time full of wars and conflicts 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, lethal force against each other in pursuit of their goals". The warfare that took place in Iron Age Britain might have been more of a threat than an actual infliction of violence. Prehistoric humans may have viewed combat as more of a ceremonial practice. Ceremonial warfare would demonstrate that the warrior or community was brave and willing to fight. Furthermore, any actual violence that did take place may have occurred in small skirmishes and not a full-blown war. By examining the evidence of the weapons and wounds inflicted on the buried individuals, it can be theorized that they were not waging war with the primary purpose of defeating their enemies. Small skirmishes may have taken place in the Iron Age, but rather than being wars they were probably more like raids. It would most likely occur between communities located close to each other. The random skirmishes that occurred would not have prepared them, nor would they have been anything like what they faced when the Romans invaded and began perpetrating a real war. The Romans brought with them the kind of violent action we now think of as war. Due to the reliance on sources such as Tacitus and Caesar, archaeologists and historians have developed a distorted view of warfare in the Iron Age. However, how much of this war took place and for what purpose can and should be debated. The actual amount of fighting that occurred can only be...... half of the article ......itisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/highlights/wittenham-sword.html>.Avery, M. 1993. Hillfort defenses of southern Britain. British Archaeological Report 231 Bowden, M. and McOmish, D. 1987. The required barrier, Scottish Archaeological Review 4: 76-84. Giles, Melanie. A forged glamour: landscape, identity and material culture in the Iron Age. Bollington: Windgather, 2012. Print.JAY, M., HASELGROVE, C., HAMILTON, D., HILL, J.D. and DENT, J. (2012), CHRIOTS AND CONTEXT: NEW RADIOCARBON DATES FROM WETWANG AND THE TIMELINE IRON AGE BURIALS AND BROOCHES IN EAST YORKSHIRE. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 31: 161–189.British Museum - The Kirkburn sword. 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 12 December 2013].