A study of social change in Britain in the Late Iron Age and Romano-British period, looking at how communities constructed their identities, and how they were transformed after the coming of Rome. Two case study areas, Milton Keynes and Bedford are compared using excavated data and the results are tested with reference to the less detailed data obtained from Sites and Monuments records. The patterns revealed in the case studies are then viewed in the light of data from neighbouring comparatve regions. Based on developmental trjectories seen in those regions, some interpretations are given for the diversity seen within the study area. The research shows that on a small and local scale, different communities and individuals may have received different treatment from the state, and reacted in different ways.