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A hillfort is a type of fortification refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman Empire period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks or stone ramparts, with or defensive walls, and external ditches. If enemies were approaching, the inhabitants would spot them from a distance.
Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC, during the Neolithic period, between 2 million and 5 million people lived in Europe; in the Late Iron Age, Europe had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy, which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with perhaps no more than 50 inhabitants. Hillforts were the exception, and were the home of up to 1,000 people. With the emergence of oppida in the Late Iron Age, settlements could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants. As the population increased, so did the complexity of prehistoric societies. Around 1100 BC hillforts emerged and in the following centuries spread through Europe. They served a range of purposes and were variously tribal centres, defended places, foci of ritual activity, and places of production.
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 Belgae invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Abandoned forts were sometimes reoccupied and refortified under renewed threat of foreign invasion, such as during the Dukes' Wars in Lithuania, and the successive invasions of Britain by Romans, Saxons and Vikings.
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. Julius Caesar described the large Late Iron Age hillforts he encountered during his campaigns in Gaul as oppidum. By this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns.
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 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. 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. The Iron Age , smr.herefordshire.gov.uk Danebury in Hampshire, is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published.
Cadbury Castle, Somerset, is the largest fort reoccupied following the end of Roman Britain to defend against pirate raids and the Anglo-Saxons invasions. The cemetery outside Poundbury Hill contains east-facing Christian burials of the 4th century CE. In Wales, the hillfort at Dinas Powys was a Late Iron Age hillfort reoccupied from the 5th-6th centuries CE; similarly at Castell Dinas Brân a hillfort of was reused in the Middle Ages, with a stone castle built there in the 13th century CE.
Some Iron Age hillforts were also incorporated into medieval frontier earthworks. For example Offa's Dyke, a linear earthwork generally dated to the 9th century CE, makes use of the west and south-west ramparts of Llanymynech hillfort. Similarly the hillfort at Old Oswestry was incorporated into the early medieval Wat's Dyke. The Wansdyke was a new linear earthwork connected to the existing hillfort at Maes Knoll, which defined the Celtic-Saxon border in south-west England during the period 577–652 CE.
Some hillforts were re-occupied by the Anglo-Saxons during the period of Viking raids. King Alfred established a network of coastal hillforts and lookout posts in Wessex, linked by a Herepath, or military road, which enabled his armies to cover Viking movements at sea. For example, see Daw's Castle and Battle of Cynwit.
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 . 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.
/ref> with more than 500 identified in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 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.
About 12 are multivallate, 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 hillfort with a medieval 'ringfort', a common archaeological feature across the whole island of Ireland, of which over 40,000 examples are known; one source claims there may be 10,000 undiscovered ringforts.
Many castros were already established during the Atlantic Bronze Age period, pre-dating the Hallstatt culture.
Many of the from the Bronze Age such as and , 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 .
The Celtiberians people occupied an inland region in central northern Spain, straddling the upper valleys of the Ebro, Douro and Tajo. They built hillforts, fortified hilltop towns and oppida, including Numantia.
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.
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, other notable are the Old Castle of Lieto and the Sulkava hillfort.
Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of Ancient Estonia. Although some of them were probably used only during times of crisis and stood empty in peacetime (for example Soontagana in Koonga parish, Pärnu county).
contains a common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts.
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. Some were continuously inhabited until the late Iron Age.
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.
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 Northern Crusade of Teutonic Order 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 Grand Duchy of Lithuania piliakalniai played a major role in conflicts with the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights. During this period the number of piliakalniai in use decreased, but those that remained had stronger fortifications. Two main defence lines developed: one along the Neman River (against the Teutonic Order) and another along the border with Livonia. Two other lines started to form, but did not fully develop. One was to protect Vilnius, the capital, and the other line in Samogitia, was a major target for both orders. This territory separated the two Orders and prevented joint action between them and Pagan Lithuania.
, according to the Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts, there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as piliakalniai. Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas, Vol. 4, 2017, Introduction Most piliakalniai are located near rivers and are endangered by erosion: many have partly collapsed as the flooded river has washed out the base of the hill. Now around 80 percent of piliakalniai are covered by forests and are hardly accessible to visitors.
Lithuania
The Lithuanian word for hillfort is piliakalnis (plural piliakalniai), from pilis (=castle) and kalnas (=mountain, hill).
Gords in Eastern Europe
In Russia, Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called gords or hords. 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 Philippines, the Ivatan people of the Batanes Islands built ijang—fortified villages on top of natural hills and raised landforms near the coastlines. These were terraced into defensive ramparts with limited access points. Artifacts recovered from an ijang on the town of Savidug in Sabtang has been dated to around 1200 CE. These high rocky formations served as a refuge against attacking enemies. Ijang were first described by the English freebooter Captain William Dampier when he visited the island of Ivuhos in 1687. During the Spanish colonial era, ijang were abandoned during the Reductions as the Ivatan population were moved into centralized towns in the lowlands., p.18.
New Zealand
Among the Māori people, villages called pā were often built on raised ground, like volcanic hills, headlands, and small islands (including artificial islands). The slopes were terraced into defensive ramparts that were usually further protected by . Traditional pā took a variety of designs, ranging from a simple terraced hill, to complex fortified structures that include multiple rows of palisades and underground defensive and ambush points. Māori pā differed from European hillforts in that they also prominently incorporate food storage pits and often, water sources. They survived until the colonial era and later types of pā were designed specifically for fighting with guns.
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