Knowra Hillfort Hillfort A fortified settlement or refuge built on elevated ground, commonly enclosed by banks, ditches, or walls. Hillforts served different purposes across regions and periods, including defense, residence, and gathering.
Rampart : A defensive embankment or wall forming part of a fortification. Ramparts formed the raised barriers enclosing many hillforts.
Maiden Castle, Dorset : A large Iron Age hillfort near Dorchester in southern England, known for its multiple ramparts. Its extensive earthworks illustrate how monumental hillfort defenses could become.
Iron Age Britain : The period of British prehistory conventionally dated from about 800 BCE to the Roman conquest. Many prominent British hillforts were built or used during this period.
Settlement archaeology : The study of where people lived and how settlements were organized through time. It frames hillforts as places of habitation as well as fortification.
Hillfort function : The archaeological question of what roles hillforts served in their communities. Defence, settlement, status, refuge, and gathering may each explain some sites, but not all.
Ditch : A trench, often dug to impede movement or strengthen a defensive boundary. Excavated ditches could make a hillfort’s approach harder and supply material for its banks.
Danebury : An Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, excavated extensively by Barry Cunliffe and others. Its excavations provide unusually detailed evidence for occupation and activity within a hillfort.
Bronze Age Britain : The period of British prehistory marked by bronze use, conventionally beginning around 2500 BCE. Some enclosures called hillforts originated before the Iron Age.
Pastoralism : A livelihood centered on raising and managing domesticated livestock. Livestock management shaped the economy and landscape around many prehistoric settlements.
Hillfort chronology : The dating and sequence of construction, occupation, and abandonment at hillforts. Similar-looking earthworks can belong to different periods or have been modified over centuries.
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