Hillfort
A hillfort is a type of
Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe; in the Late Iron Age it had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside
Hillforts were frequently occupied by conquering armies, but on other occasions the forts were destroyed, the local people forcibly evicted, and the forts left derelict. For example, Solsbury Hill was sacked and deserted during the Belgic invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Abandoned forts were sometimes reoccupied and refortified under renewed threat of foreign invasion, such as the Dukes' Wars in Lithuania, and the successive invasions of Britain by Romans, Saxons and Vikings.
Celtic hillforts
Celtic hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the
- The Proto-Celtic Urnfield culture and Atlantic Bronze Age[5] (Bronze Age, c. 1300 BC – 750 BC)
- Hallstatt culture ( early Iron Age, c. 1200 BC – 500 BC)
- La Tène culture (late Iron Age, c. 600 BC – 50 AD)
The Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture originated in what is now southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The predominant form of rampart construction was pfostenschlitzmauer, or Kelheim-style. During the Hallstatt C period, hillforts became the dominant settlement type in the west of Hungary.[6] Julius Caesar described the large late Iron Age hillforts he encountered during his campaigns in Gaul as oppida. By this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns.
Great Britain
The reason for the emergence of hillforts in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view, since the 1960s, has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze and, as a result, trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.[7] Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".[8]
Hillforts in Britain are known from the Bronze Age, but the great period of hillfort construction was during the Celtic Iron Age, between 700 BC and the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. The Romans occupied some forts, such as the military garrison at Hod Hill, and the temple at Brean Down, but others were destroyed and abandoned. Partially articulated remains of between 28 and 40 men, women and children at Cadbury Castle were thought by the excavator[9] to implicate the Cadbury population in a revolt in the 70's AD (roughly contemporary with that of Boudicca in the East of England), although this has been questioned by subsequent researchers.[10][11] However, the presence of barracks on the hilltop in the decades following the conquest suggest an ongoing struggle to suppress local dissent.
Maiden Castle in Dorset is the largest hillfort in England. Where Roman influence was less strong, such as uninvaded Ireland and unsubdued northern Scotland, hillforts were still built and used for several more centuries.
There are over 2,000 Iron Age hillforts known in Britain of which nearly 600 are in Wales.[12] Danebury in Hampshire, is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published.[13]
Some Iron Age hillforts were also incorporated into medieval frontier earthworks. For example
Some hillforts were re-occupied by the
It has been suggested on reasonable evidence that many so-called hillforts were just used to pen in cattle, horses, or other domesticated animals. The large sprawling examples at Bindon Hill and Bathampton Down are more than 50 acres (20 ha). Even those that were defensive settlements in the Iron Age were sometimes used for corralling animals in later periods. For example, see Coney's Castle, Dolebury Warren and Pilsdon Pen. However, it is difficult to prove that people definitely did not dwell there, as lack of evidence is not proof of absence.
Ireland
Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts are widely found in Ireland.[18] They are large circular structures between 1 and 40 acres (most commonly 5–10 acres) in size, enclosed by a stone wall or earthen rampart or both. These would have been important tribal centres where the chief or king of the area would live with his extended family and support themselves by farming and renting cattle to their underlings.
There are around 40 known hillforts in Ireland.[19][20] About 12 are multivallate as distinguished by multiple ramparts, or a large counterscarp (outer bank). The imposing example at Mooghaun is defended by multiple stone walls.
One must be careful to not confuse a hill-fort with a 'ringfort'—a medieval settlement—a common archaeological feature across the whole island of Ireland, of which over 40,000 examples are known;[21] one source claims there may be 10,000 undiscovered ringforts.[22]
Other Hillforts in Europe
Iberian Peninsula
In
Many castros were already established during the Atlantic Bronze Age period, pre-dating the Hallstatt culture.
Many of the megaliths from the Bronze Age such as menhirs and dolmens, which are frequently located near the castros, also pre-date the Celts in Portugal, Asturias and Galicia as well as in Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland. These megaliths were probably reused in syncretic rituals by the Celtic Druids.
The
Migration Period Germany
During the period of
Sweden
In Sweden, hillforts are fortifications from the Iron Age which may have had several functions. They are usually located on the crests of hills and mountains making use of precipices and marshes which worked as natural defences. The crests' more accessible parts were defended with walls of stone and outer walls in the slopes beneath are common. Round and closed, so-called
Many forts, located centrally in densely populated areas, were permanently settled strongholds and can show traces of settlements both inside and outside. Older place names containing the element sten/stein were usually hillforts.
In Sweden, there are 1,100 known hillforts with a strong concentration on the northern west coast and in eastern Svealand. In Södermanland there are 300, in Uppland 150, Östergötland 130, and 90 to 100 in each of Bohuslän and Gotland.
Norway
Norway has about 400 hillforts.
Denmark
Denmark has 26 hillforts.
Finland
The Finnish word for hillfort is linnavuori (plural linnavuoret), meaning fort hill or castle hill, or alternatively muinaislinna meaning ancient fort, as opposed to bare linna which refers to medieval or later fortifications.
One special feature about the Finnish hillforts that while most of them are located these days within some distance from the sea, but earlier many of the forts were located by the sea, due to post-glacial rebound.
Finland has around 100 hillforts verified by excavations, and about 200 more suspected sites. The largest hillfort in Finland is the Rapola Castle, another notable one is the Old Castle of Lieto.
Estonia
The Estonian word for hillfort is linnamägi (plural linnamäed), meaning hillfort or hillburgh. There are several hundred hillforts or presumed ancient hillfort sites all over Estonia. Some of them, like Toompea in Tallinn or Toomemägi in Tartu, are governance centres used since ancient times up until today. Some others, like Varbola are historical sites nowadays.
Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of
List of Estonian fortresses contains a common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts.
Latvia
The Latvian word for hillfort is pilskalns (plural: pilskalni), from pils (castle) and kalns (hill).
Hillforts in Latvia offered not only military and administrative functions but they were also cultural and economic centres of some regions. Latvian hillforts generally were a part of a complex consisting of the main fortress, the settlement around it, one or more burial fields and nearby ritual sites. The first hillforts in Latvia, such as Daugmale hillfort, appeared during the Bronze Age.[24] Some were continuously inhabited until the late Iron Age.[25][26]
During the Roman Iron Age, some of the Latvian hillforts (like Ķivutkalns) were abandoned or became sparsely populated. A new period in hillfort development started during the 5th–8th centuries AD, when many new hillforts appeared, in most cases, along the main trades routes—rivers. During the 10th–11th centuries, some of the hillforts became military fortresses with strong fortifications (like hillforts in Tērvete, Talsi, Mežotne). Some of them are considered important political centres of the local peoples, who in this period were subjects of serious social political changes. That period was known for unrest and military activities, as well as power struggles between local aristocracy. Most of the Latvian hillforts were destroyed or abandoned during the Livonian Crusade in the 13th century, but some were still used in the 14th century. In total, there are about 470 hillforts in Latvia.[25][26]
Lithuania
The Lithuanian word for hillfort is piliakalnis (plural piliakalniai), from pilis (=castle) and kalnas (=mountain, hill).
Lithuania has hillforts dating from the Bronze Age in the 1st millennium BC. The earliest examples in present-day Lithuania are found in the east of the country. Most of these forts were built or expanded between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, when they were used in the Dukes' Wars, and against the invasion of Teutonic Knights from the west. Most forts were located on the banks of a river, or a confluence where two rivers met. These fortifications were typically wooden, although some had additional stone or brick walls. The hill was usually sculpted for defensive purposes, with the top flattened and the natural slopes made steeper for defence.
During the early years of
As of 2017[update], according to the Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts, there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as piliakalniai.
Eastern European gords
In Russia, Belarus and Poland Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called gords. They were the residence of local rulers, and provided for refuge in times of war.
Hillforts elsewhere in the world
Similar structures can be found elsewhere in the world, such as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan.
Philippines
In the
New Zealand
Among the
See also
- Amba (geology), Ethiopian flat-topped mountain formations often used as defensive fortifications.
- Broch
- Chashi
- Nuraghe
- Oppidum
- Prehistoric warfare
- Promontory fort
- Acropolis
Notes
- ^ "Maiden Castle". English Heritage. Retrieved 31 May 2009.
- ^ Historic England. "Maiden Castle (451864)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ^ McIntosh 2009, p. 349
- ^ McIntosh 2009, p. 162
- ^ Ayán Vila 2008, p. 913
- ^ Collis 2003, p. 79
- ^ Sharples 1991, pp. 71–72
- ^ Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds, Channel 4, 19 May 2008, retrieved 16 September 2009
- ^ Alcock 1972, pp. 161–163
- ^ Barrett 2000
- ^ Tabor 2008, pp. 156–164
- ^ The Iron Age, smr.herefordshire.gov.uk
- ^ Cunliffe 2000
- ^ Alcock, Leslie (1963), Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age and Early Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan, University of Wales Press
- ^ King, D. J. Cathcart (1974), "Two Castles in Northern Powys: Dinas Bran and Caergwrle", Archaeologia Cambrensis, CXXIII: 113–139
- ^ "Llanymynech Hillfort (92487)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ English Heritage page 'History of Old Oswestry Hillfort'
- ^ O'Driscoll, J., Hawkes, A. and O'Brien, W. (2019) 'The Irish hillfort', in Lock, G. and Ralston, I. (eds.) Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent - Papers from the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland Conference, June 2017. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 77-96. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvnb7r0b. https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12265
- ^ Raftery 1972, p. 39
- ^ O'Driscoll, James (2016). The Baltinglass landscape and the hillforts of Bronze Age Ireland (Doctoral thesis thesis). University College Cork.
- ^ "Ringforts". www.culturalheritageireland.ie. 8 August 2023.
- ^ Fisher, Mark E. (29 May 2016). "The Mystery of Ancient, Irish Ringforts — Part I".
- ^ "Castrenor". Castrenor. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
- ^ "Ancient History of Latvia (11 000 BC – 1200) ← National History Museum of Latvia".
- ^ a b Bielenstein 1869
- ^ a b Moora 1929
- ^ Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas, Vol. 4, 2017, Introduction
- JSTOR j.ctt5hgz91.6, retrieved 25 January 2021
- JSTOR 42634196.
- ^ Dizon, Eusebio (1997). "Archaeology of Batanes Province, Northern Philippines: The 1996-1997 Status Report".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - JSTOR 42632762., p.18.
- ISBN 9781742288260. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- Wikidata Q104815050.
- ^ Cowan, James (1955). "The Capture of Rua-pekapeka". The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume I (1845–64). R.E. Owen, Wellington. p. 74. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
References
- Alcock, Leslie (1972), "By South Cadbury Is That Camelot...": Excavations at Cadbury Castle 1966–70, London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 0-8128-1505-X
- Avery, Michael (October 1986), "'Stoning and Fire' at Hillfort Entrances of Southern Britain", World Archaeology, 18 (2): 216–230, JSTOR 124616
- Ayán Vila, Xurxo (2008), "A Round Iron Age: The Circular House in the Hillforts of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula" (PDF), E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies, 6, UW-Milwaukee Center for Celtic Studies: 903–1, 003, ISSN 1540-4889
- Barrett, John (2000), Cadbury Castle, Somerset: The later prehistoric and early historic archaeology, London: English Heritage, ISBN 1-85074-716-4
- Bielenstein, August (1869), Die altlettischen Burgberge Kurlands, Riga
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 0-203-44211-3
- ISBN 0-947816-48-8
- Cunliffe, Barry (2007), "Understanding hillforts: have we progressed?", in Payne, Andrew; Corney, Mark; Cunliffe, Barry (eds.), The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England, English Heritage, pp. 151–162, ISBN 978-1-873592-85-4
- McIntosh, Jane (2009) [2006], Handbook of Life in Prehistoric Europe (paperback ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-538476-5
- Moora, H (1929) [1929], Die Eisenzeit in Lettland bis etwa 500 (paperback ed.)
- Oswald, Alastair; Ainsworth, Stewart; Pearson, Trevor (2008), "Iron Age Hillforts in their Landscape Contexts: a Fresh Look at the Field Evidence in the Northumberland Cheviots", Archaeologia Aeliana, fifth, 36: 1–45
- Raftery, Barry (1972), "Irish Hill-forts" (PDF), Council for British Archaeology Research Report No 9: 37–58
- Raftery, Barry (1994), Pagan Celtic Ireland:the enigma of the Irish Iron age, London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN 978-0-500-05072-9
- Sharples, Niall M (1991), English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle, London: B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-6083-0
- Tabor, Richard (2008), Cadbury Castle: The hillfort and landscapes, Stroud: The History Press, ISBN 978-0-7524-4715-5
Further reading
- Britnell, Bill; Silvester, Bob (2018). "Hillforts and Defended Enclosures of the Welsh Borderland". doi:10.11141/ia.48.7.
- Collis, John (2010), "Why do we still dig Iron Age ramparts?" (PDF), Collection Bibracte, 19: 27–36, ISBN 978-2-909668-64-2, archived from the original(PDF) on 24 December 2012
- Cunliffe, Barry (1997), The Ancient Celts, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-025422-6
- Driver, Toby (2018). "New Perspectives on the Architecture and Function of Welsh Hillforts and Defended Settlements". Internet Archaeology (48). doi:10.11141/ia.48.9.
- Guilbert, Graeme (2018). "Historical Excavation and Survey of Hillforts in Wales: some critical issues". Internet Archaeology (48). doi:10.11141/ia.48.3.
- Hill, David; Jesson, Margaret (eds) (1971), The Iron Age and its hill-forts: papers presented to Sir Mortimer Wheeler on the occasion of his eightieth year, at a conference held by the Southampton University Archaeological Society, 5th–7th March, 1971, Southampton University Archaeological Society
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has generic name (help) - Lock, Gary; Ralston, Ian, eds. (2019), Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent: Papers from the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland Conference, June 2017, Oxford: Archaeopress, ISBN 978-1-78969-227-3
- Ralston, Ian (2006), Celtic Fortifications, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-2500-5
- Smith, George (2018). "Hillforts and Hut Groups of North-West Wales". Internet Archaeology (48). doi:10.11141/ia.48.6.
- Whittaker, Chris (2019). "Breedon Hill, Leicestershire: new surveys and their implications". Internet Archaeology (52). doi:10.11141/ia.52.6.