Iron age hillforts in Britain and beyond / D.W. Harding.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harding, D. W. (Dennis William)

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fortification, Prehistoric--Great Britain.

Fortification, Prehistoric.

Iron age--Great Britain.

Iron age.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Critically reviewing the evidence of hillforts in Britain, in the wider context of Ireland and continental Europe, this volume focuses on their structural features, chronology, landscape context and their social, economic and symbolic functions, and is well illustrated throughout with site plans, reconstruction drawings and photographs.

Contents:

Cover; Contents; List of Illustrations; Abbreviations; 1. Defining Issues; Earthworks and enclosure; Size and distribution; Enclosure morphology; Topography and location; The 'pacification of prehistory' and the 'Celtic' paradigm; Hillfort interiors: buildings and their use; Resources and social implications; The function of hillforts; 2. History of Hillfort Studies; Early field survey and site description; Pioneers of hillfort survey and excavation; Hillfort excavation in Central and Western Europe; Defensive sequence and chronology; Wheeler and the historical paradigm

The 'new archaeology' and afterHillfort research since Danebury; Publication; The future of hillfort studies; 3. Anatomy of Hillfort Enclosure; Palisaded or stockaded enclosures; Ramparts; Ditches; Entrances; 'Unfinished' hillforts; Conclusions; 4. Inside and Outside of Hillforts; Hillfort interiors; Extramural settlement; 5. Hillforts in the Landscape; Hillfort environs: case studies; Oppida; Landscapes without hillforts; 6. Chronology; Neolithic camps and fortified sites; Bronze Age antecedents; Roman period occupation of hillforts; Post-Roman hillforts in Wales and the west

Early historic hillforts in northern BritainIrish ringforts; 7. Function 1: Defence; Warfare in prehistory; 'War cemeteries' and massacre sites; Evidence of destruction; 'Vitrified forts' and burnt ramparts; Chevaux-de-frise; Weaponry and sling-stone hoards; Ritualized warfare; Conclusions; 8. Function 2: Social, Economic, Ritual; Permanent, periodic, or seasonal occupation?; Central places, storage, redistribution, and status; Burial and funerary rituals; Excarnation and 'normative' burial; Other ritual or ceremonial roles; Currency bar hoards and metalworking; Conclusions

9. Documentary SourcesCaesar, Tacitus, and classical sources; Irish literary sources; Early historic northern Britain; Conclusions; 10. Ethnographic Models; Pā sites of New Zealand; North American palisaded settlements; West African fortified villages and towns; Conclusions; 11. Conclusion: A Sense of Place; Artefacts as symbols; Hillforts and defence; Landmarks and the legacy of the past; Wessex divided; 'Developed' hillforts; Social and economic roles; Ceremonial, ritual, and burial; Hillforts and social hierarchies; Change through time; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H

IJ; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2012.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-191845-8

1-299-26573-1

0-19-162610-4

OCLC:

830162673