Hambledon Hill
Hambledon Hill is a Contour Fort type hillfort at Child Okeford in Blackmore Vale, northwest of Blandford Forum in Dorset , England . The hill is a chalk outcrop on the southwest corner of Cranborne Chase and is separated from the Dorset Downs by the River Stour .
The earliest use of the Hillfort took place in the Neolithic , when causewayed camps of various sizes were built on the hill . They were connected by a wall and a moat. There were two mounds within the complex, one approximately 68.0 m long. A third enclosure is now under the later earthworks. In total, the area covered more than 1.0 km². Roger Mercer's excavations in the 1970s and 1980s produced large quantities of Neolithic material. Analysis indicated that the hill was already occupied while the surrounding area was still forested. In the Bronze Age there was clearing . According to radiocarbon analysis, charcoal, which also appears to have been produced within the Neolithic earthworks, gives a date of 2850 BC. Chr.
The skeleton of a young man who was apparently killed by an arrow during the clearing phase was found. Individual finds testify to viticulture , and the residents seem to have exchanged with places in the southwest.
The trenches of the enclosure contained lots of pottery as well as antler shoots from deer. Human skulls had been placed directly under one of the trenches, possibly as a construction sacrifice. Animal bone analyzes indicate that most of the meat was consumed in late summer and early fall, which could indicate a seasonal use of the site. Various concentrations of material were found in the interiors of Hambledon Hill, suggesting that the square was divided into activity zones. The interpretation says that the large enclosure served the ritual burial of the dead and the veneration of the ancestors, while accompanying celebrations and social contact took place in the smaller enclosure.
Little remains of Neolithic activity, and the site can easily be considered an example of an Iron Age hill fort. It was originally incomplete, but more ramparts and moats were added, increasing the size to 125,000 m². Three entrances opened up the fort, the south-western one is equipped with a 100 m long horn. Hut platforms can be seen on the slope. The Hillfort seems to have been around 300 BC. To have been abandoned, possibly in favor of nearby Hod Hill.
In 2014 Hambledon Hill was acquired by the National Trust. The Hillfort is now a national nature reserve (NNR) and a Scheduled Monument .
Nearby is Maiden Castle .
literature
- Roger Mercer: Hambledon Hill: A Neolithic Landscape. Edinburgh University Press, 1980
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 45 ″ N , 2 ° 13 ′ 19 ″ W.