The discovery of a Roman helmet and associated coin hoards at Hallaton in Leicestershire represents one of the most significant Late Iron Age finds of recent years. Following the discovery of large numbers of coins through metal-detecting, excavations were undertaken to place the discoveries in context; this subsequently revealed fourteen hoards (5,296 Late Iron Age and pre-conquest Roman coins), one Roman helmet and six cheek-pieces, indicating a site which saw major acts of deposition from the late first century b.c. to the Roman conquest. Hallaton's real significance, however, lies not in its rich material but in being one of the few such finds to see detailed investigation prior to removal, providing the contextual evidence so often lacking from hoards and ‘ritual’ sites of this period. This volume signals the collaborative nature of that project, combining the work of local society fieldwalkers, Leicester University field archaeologists, and specialists from the British Museum. The project also reflects the success of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, demonstrating the value of responsible metal-detectorists in bringing to light crucial material for understanding the Late Iron Age–Roman transition.

Hallaton is famed for its wealth of material and it is the specialist reports on this that provide the volume's most compelling discussions. In particular, the size of the coin assemblage (increasing the corpus of Corieltavi coinage by 150 per cent) enables Ian Leins to use Hallaton as the basis for a reassessment of the regional coinage. Providing a new interpretation of social organisation in the area, Leins' study has broader implications than the immediate region. His vision is of a set of contemporary coin-issuing authorities whose leaders were manipulating social assembly and rituals, as at Hallaton, to exert influence over other individuals and groups in a fragmented political arena.

The other exceptional element to the site was the discovery of a Roman cavalry helmet. Sadly, this volume was published too early to show the helmet in its reconstructed glory (now visible on the British Museum's website). The initial assessment here does, however, enable an appreciation of the significance of these finds and the complex deposition process they constituted, combining coin and animal bones alongside the helmet. The helmet certainly reinforces the impression that, as discussed in Colin Haselgrove's overview, indigenous élites used and manipulated Roman imagery and dress as symbols of power and links to the Empire.

Beyond the spectacular remains, the context of these finds is revealing. One notable element is the presence of three dog burials in the boundary of the suggested sacred area. Regarded by the authors as ‘guardians’, these appear to have been older animals, perhaps indicating that the biographies of animals in such deposits may have been significant, rather than acting merely as the ‘right sort’ of deposit. The predominance of pig remains is also convincingly argued as feasting activity, signalling the association between votive deposition and commensality noted elsewhere in the Late Iron Age, for example in Matthieu Poux's work on Gaul.

With external influences on Late Iron Age identities coming not just from Rome but also the near Continent, it is perhaps unsurprising that the practices at Hallaton have some of their best parallels in the sanctuary sites of northern France. Yet one of the most tantalising aspects of the site is that, despite the remarkable nature of the finds, the structural evidence appears relatively unspectacular. Like some other finds of recent years, this may suggest that such deposits did not require elaborate architecture and, as was common elsewhere in the British Iron Age, need not have been divorced from more ‘domestic’ settlement. Hallaton reveals that such deposits may have existed in far more complex landscape arenas and it is hoped that continued work will tease out more evidence for the potential longue durée and significance of this location.

Hallaton emphasises that the pre-conquest period was one of major social upheaval, marked by dramatic new ways in which power was expressed. This well-illustrated and comprehensive report will deservedly place Hallaton as fundamental to discussions of the Late Iron Age–Roman transition.