Editing Sutton Hoo (section)

=== Iron Age and Romano-British period ===

During the [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], iron replaced copper and [[bronze]] as the dominant form of metal used in the British Isles. In the Middle Iron Age (around 500 BC), people living in the Sutton Hoo area began to grow crops again, dividing the land into small enclosures now known as [[Celtic field]]s.<ref>Carver, ''Sutton Hoo'', p. 99.</ref> The use of narrow trenches implies grape cultivation, whilst in other places, small pockets of dark soil indicate that big [[cabbage]]s may have been grown.{{sfn|Carver|1998|p=100}} This cultivation continued into the [[Roman Britain|Romano-British period]], from 43 to around 410.{{sfn|Carver|1998|p=100}}

Life for the Britons remained unaffected by the arrival of the Romans. Several artefacts from the period, including a few fragments of pottery and a discarded [[Fibula (brooch)|fibula]], have been found. As the peoples of Western Europe were encouraged by the Empire to maximise the use of land for growing crops, the area around Sutton Hoo suffered degradation and soil loss. It was eventually abandoned and became overgrown.{{sfn|Carver|1998|p=100}}