The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
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• 120 • Colin Haselgrove<br />
ancillary structures and byres, not houses, and the ex<strong>ca</strong>vator’s estimate <strong>of</strong> the Later Iron Age<br />
population is five households (Pryor 1984). A rather larger population has been suggested for the<br />
Glastonbury lake village (Somerset), reaching a maximum <strong>of</strong> 14 households in the early first<br />
century BC, before increasingly wet conditions led to contraction and abandonment (Coles and<br />
Minnitt 1995). A number <strong>of</strong> Roman small towns seem to originate in Late Iron Age aggregated<br />
settlements, as at Baldock (Hertfordshire).<br />
In the upper Thames Valley <strong>of</strong> Oxfordshire, different settlement types are seen on the<br />
upper and lower gravel terraces (Lambrick 1992). <strong>The</strong> second terrace is dominated by aggregated<br />
settlements like Abingdon Ashville and Gravelly Guy, with separate areas for pit storage and<br />
domestic occupation. <strong>The</strong>se sites may have operated communally, each with its strip <strong>of</strong> arable<br />
at the terrace edge, but sharing pasture away <strong>from</strong> the river. A different settlement type is<br />
found on the first terrace, reflecting an expansion <strong>of</strong> pastoral farming during the Later Iron<br />
Age. <strong>The</strong>se are smaller, self-contained ditched or hedged enclosures with funnel entrances, as<br />
at Hardwick. Lastly, a s<strong>ca</strong>tter <strong>of</strong> short-lived seasonally occupied sites were established on the<br />
floodplain to exploit summer grazing. Seasonal settlements are known elsewhere, some linked<br />
to part-time craft specialization, as at Eldon’s Seat (Dorset), where Kimmeridge Shale bracelets<br />
were manufactured. <strong>The</strong> wetland settlement at Meare (Somerset) is now interpreted as the site<br />
<strong>of</strong> a seasonal fair.<br />
<strong>The</strong> main period <strong>of</strong> hillfort building in southern England occurred during the sixth and fifth<br />
centuries BC. However, the defence <strong>of</strong> hill-tops in <strong>Britain</strong> has a long and varied history, with<br />
construction peaking at different times in different regions. In north and central Wales, for example,<br />
the earliest hillforts like the Breiddin (Powys) succeeded Bronze Age enclosures, whereas in East<br />
<strong>An</strong>glia and the Weald, most hillforts were built in the Later Iron Age. Scottish sites like Eildon<br />
Hill North (Roxburghshire) and Traprain Law (East Lothian) were apparently abandoned as<br />
centres <strong>of</strong> habitation before the classic southern British hillforts were even built, although they<br />
were reoccupied during the Roman Iron Age and may have retained a ceremonial role during the<br />
intervening centuries. In southern England, the earliest hillforts occur <strong>from</strong> the Cotswolds along<br />
the chalk downs <strong>of</strong> north Wessex as far as the Chiltern s<strong>ca</strong>rp.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se early hillforts comprise two main <strong>ca</strong>tegories: smaller, well-fortified sites with dense<br />
internal activity, as at Crickley Hill (Gloucestershire) or Moel-y-Gaer (Powys), and larger hilltop<br />
enclosures like Bathampton Down (Avon), with s<strong>ca</strong>nt evidence <strong>of</strong> any occupation. At this stage,<br />
the defences usually consisted <strong>of</strong> a single earth or stone rampart, <strong>of</strong>ten <strong>of</strong> box-framed or timberlaced<br />
construction, with a relatively simple entrance. After c.350 BC, many early hillforts in Wessex<br />
and elsewhere were abandoned, while a smaller number, generally known as developed hillforts,<br />
were extended and <strong>of</strong>ten massively elaborated. <strong>The</strong>se were usually protected by multiple glacisstyle<br />
earthworks, constructed so that the external face <strong>of</strong> each dump rampart formed a continuous<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ile with a V-shaped ditch, while entrances <strong>of</strong>ten consisted <strong>of</strong> long passages protected by<br />
complex outworks. Good examples <strong>of</strong> developed hillforts include Cadbury Castle (Somerset),<br />
Cr<strong>of</strong>t Ambrey (Herefordshire), Danebury (Hampshire) and Maiden Castle (Dorset).<br />
Although neither Danebury—where more than half the interior has been ex<strong>ca</strong>vated—nor<br />
Maiden Castle <strong>ca</strong>n be considered typi<strong>ca</strong>l <strong>of</strong> British sites, between them they exemplify the main<br />
features <strong>of</strong> both early and developed hillforts, as well as illustrating the processes by which certain<br />
hillforts rose to dominate their lo<strong>ca</strong>lity between the fourth and second centuries BC. <strong>The</strong>ir earlier<br />
occupation phases were characterized by well-ordered layouts, and by possession <strong>of</strong> substantial<br />
food storage <strong>ca</strong>pacities. At Danebury (Cunliffe 1993), the northern interior was occupied by<br />
rows <strong>of</strong> four-post storage structures—later replaced by a mass <strong>of</strong> storage pits—while a limited<br />
number <strong>of</strong> circular buildings were constructed in its southern half and around the circumference<br />
(Figure 7.5). At this stage, finds apart <strong>from</strong> pottery were relatively sparse at either hillfort.