The pre-Roman Iron Age communities of eastern England have not received the attention afforded to those of other parts of the British Isles. Admittedly, individual sites such as West Harling and Fengate have been published in detail, and the affinities of their materials have been discussed, but little attempt has been made to study the region as a whole. The nature of the problem, however, was vividly underlined by the admirable summary published by Clarke thirty years ago (Clarke, 1939). Although at the time many scraps of evidence were available, few sites had been adequately excavated, and still fewer published. In recent years the situation has improved and it is now possible to offer a tolerably coherent consideration of the earliest phases in the Iron Age occupation of the region. Even so, the evidence is thin and without support from further controlled excavations the framework offered below can be regarded only as a basis for further discussion.