Tag: hillfort

Hillforts: Defence or Ritual? – Part 1

View to Yeavering Bell

Over the last five years Iron-Age specialists have been re-examining what British hillforts were really for. The question is no longer just “fortress or farm?” but whether many of them were built first and foremost as places of gathering, display and ritual.

Guide: Hillfort Mounds of Europe

Trelleborg airphoto

Guide: Common Features of Iron Age Hillforts This article attempts to serve as a guide for many of the features of the hillforts found in Britain, in Read more Guide: Iron-Age minting: Ceramic Pellet-mould trays This article explores the most tangible evidence we possess for indigenous minting north of the Humber: the smashed ceramic “pellet-mould” …

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Was Edinburgh an Iron-Age oppidum?

Arthurs Seat - Edinburgh - Independent

An oppidum is the name given to a large population centre, with varying levels of fortification. So far, this concept of Iron-Age cities has not really been applied to the British Iron-Age, though many individual hillforts have been suggested.

How to Vitrify a Fort

Tap O Noth Hillfort

Vitrified Forts Distribution One of the great mysteries of classical archaeology is the spartan worldwide distribution of vitrified forts, except for Scotland and Read more Why Vitrify a Fort? Originally, it was thought that the forts had become vitrified due to an enemy attack. A theory proposed by Childe Read more Classification of Vitrified Forts …

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The Vitrified Forts of the British Isles and Europe

Tap O Noth LiDAR 1m - Thanks to the National Library of Scotland

This page is the “collection centre” for our research into vitrified forts, covering the area largely known as the British Isles.

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