The Wessex Hillforts Project

The Wessex Hillforts Project
Author :
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
Total Pages : 187
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781848022218
ISBN-13 : 1848022212
Rating : 4/5 (18 Downloads)

Synopsis The Wessex Hillforts Project by : Andrew Payne

The earthwork forts that crown many hills in Southern England are among the largest and most dramatic of the prehistoric features that still survive in our modern rural landscape. The Wessex Hillforts Survey collected wide-ranging data on hillfort interiors in a three-year partnership between the former Ancient Monuments Laboratory of English Heritage and Oxford University. These defended enclosures, occupied from the end of the Bronze Age to the last few centuries before the Roman conquest, have long attracted archaeological interest and their function remains central to study of the Iron Age. The communal effort and high degree of social organistation indicated by hillforts feeds debate about whether they were strongholds of Celtic chiefs, communal centres of population or temporary gathering places occupied seasonally or in times of unrest. Yet few have been extensively examined archaeologically. Using non-invasive methods, the survey enabled more elaborate distinctions to be made between different classes of hillforts than has hitherto been possible. The new data reveals not only the complexity of the archaeological record preserved inside hillforts, but also great variation in complexity among sites. Survey of the surrounding coutnryside revealed hillforts to be far from isolated features in the later prehistoric landscape. Many have other less visible, forms of enclosed settlement in close proximity. Others occupy significant meeting points of earlier linear ditch systems and some appear to overlie, or be located adjacent to, blocks of earlier prehistoric field systems.

Hillforts, Warfare and Society in Bronze Age Ireland

Hillforts, Warfare and Society in Bronze Age Ireland
Author :
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages : 538
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781784916565
ISBN-13 : 1784916560
Rating : 4/5 (65 Downloads)

Synopsis Hillforts, Warfare and Society in Bronze Age Ireland by : William O'Brien

This is the first project to study hillforts in relation to warfare and conflict in Bronze Age Ireland. This project combines remote sensing and GIS-based landscape analysis with conventional archaeological survey to investigate ten prehistoric hillforts across southern Ireland.

Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge

Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge
Author :
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages : 284
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781784914677
ISBN-13 : 1784914673
Rating : 4/5 (77 Downloads)

Synopsis Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge by : Dan Garner

The Habitats and Hillforts of Cheshire’s Sandstone Ridge Landscape Partnership Project was focussed on six of Cheshire hillforts and their surrounding habitats and landscapes. It aimed to develop understanding of the chronology and role of the hillforts and encourage local interest and involvement in their maintenance.

Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent

Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent
Author :
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages : 238
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781789692273
ISBN-13 : 178969227X
Rating : 4/5 (73 Downloads)

Synopsis Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent by : Gary Lock

The Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland project (2012-2016) compiled a massive database on hillforts by a team drawn from the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Cork. This volume outlines the history of the project, offers preliminary assessments of the online digital Atlas and presents initial research studies using Atlas data.

Iron Age Hillfort Defences and the Tactics of Sling Warfare

Iron Age Hillfort Defences and the Tactics of Sling Warfare
Author :
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages : 144
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781784914110
ISBN-13 : 1784914118
Rating : 4/5 (10 Downloads)

Synopsis Iron Age Hillfort Defences and the Tactics of Sling Warfare by : Peter Robertson

Sling accuracy at a hillfort is measured here for the first time, in a controlled experiment comparing attack and defence across single and developed ramparts.

Iron Age Hillforts in Britain and Beyond

Iron Age Hillforts in Britain and Beyond
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 369
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780199695249
ISBN-13 : 0199695245
Rating : 4/5 (49 Downloads)

Synopsis Iron Age Hillforts in Britain and Beyond by : Dennis Harding

Widely regarded as major visible field monuments of the Iron Age, hillforts are central to an understanding of later prehistoric communities in Britain and Europe. Harding reviews the changing perceptions of hillforts and the future prospects for hillfort research, highlighting aspects of contemporary investigation and interpretation.

Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710

Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710
Author :
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Total Pages : 291
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781526733580
ISBN-13 : 1526733587
Rating : 4/5 (80 Downloads)

Synopsis Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710 by : David Cooper

David Coopers book reappraises the evidence regarding the early battles for Wessex territory. It charts the sequence of battles from the c. AD 500 siege of Badon Hill, in which the Britons defeated the first Saxon attempt to gain a foothold in Wessex territory, to Langport in 710, which consolidated King Ine's position and pushed the Britons westwards. Discussion of the post-Roman British and Germanic factions provides context and background to Badon Hill, which is then covered in detail and disentangled from Arthurian legend. In considering how the opposing commanders are likely to have planned their campaigns, enduring principles of military doctrine and tactics are discussed, using examples from other periods to illustrate how these principles applied in Dark Ages Britain. Going on to follow subsequent campaigns of the West Saxons in southern Britain, a credible assessment is made of how these resulted in the establishment of a viable Wessex kingdom, two centuries after Badon. Grounded in the latest academic and archaeological evidence, David Cooper offers a number of new insights and ideas.

Moel-y-Gaer (Bodfari): A Small Hillfort in Denbighshire, North Wales

Moel-y-Gaer (Bodfari): A Small Hillfort in Denbighshire, North Wales
Author :
Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Total Pages : 141
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781803273136
ISBN-13 : 1803273135
Rating : 4/5 (36 Downloads)

Synopsis Moel-y-Gaer (Bodfari): A Small Hillfort in Denbighshire, North Wales by : Gary Lock

Moel-y-Gaer (Bodfari) is the northernmost of a series of hillforts atop the Clwydian hills in Wales. Nine seasons of survey and excavation reveal details of Moel-y-Gaer’s ramparts, entrances and interior. Discussion situates the site within the later prehistoric settlement record for north-eastern Wales paying particular attention to hillforts.

Beacons in the Landscape

Beacons in the Landscape
Author :
Publisher : Windgather Press
Total Pages : 267
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781909686274
ISBN-13 : 1909686271
Rating : 4/5 (74 Downloads)

Synopsis Beacons in the Landscape by : Ian Brown

Of all Britain's great archaeological monuments the Iron Age hillforts have arguably had the most profound impact on the landscape, if only because there are so many; yet we know very little about them. Were they recognised as being something special by those who created them or is the 'hillfort' purely an archaeologists' 'construct'? How were they constructed, who lived in them and to what uses were they put? This book, which is richly illustrated with photography of sites throughout England and Wales, addresses these and many other questions. After discussing the difficult issue of definition and the great excavations on which our knowledge is based, Ian Brown investigates in turn hillforts' origins, their architecture, and the role they played in Iron Age society. He also discusses the latest theories about their location, social significance and chronology. The book provides a valuable synthesis of the rich vein of research carried out in Britain on hillforts over the last thirty years. Hillforts' great variability poses many problems, and this book should help guide both the specialist and non-specialist alike though the complex literature. Furthermore, it has an important conservation objective. Land use in the modern era has not been kind to these monuments, with a significant number either disfigured or lost. Public consciousness of their importance needs raising if their management is to be improved and their future assured.

Prehistoric Britain

Prehistoric Britain
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 417
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781136973048
ISBN-13 : 1136973044
Rating : 4/5 (48 Downloads)

Synopsis Prehistoric Britain by : Timothy Darvill

Prehistoric Britain, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population.