King's Castle (Wiveliscombe)

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Earthwork at the Wallburg King's Castle

King's Castle is a Neolithic hill fort 1 km East of the town of Wiveliscombe in the English county of Somerset . It is surrounded by two earth walls with a ditch between them. The inner wall reaches a height of 2.5 meters, the outer one of 1.5 meters. Arrowheads , scratches and drills were found on the property. A lot of 1139 coins was found in a pot buried 30 centimeters deep.

The area was badly damaged by repeated use as a quarry and plowing over .

background

Wall castles were built at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age , around the 1st millennium BC. The reason for its spread into Britain and its purpose have often been debated. It was thought that they could have been military installations that could have arisen in response to invasions from mainland Europe, buildings erected by the invaders, or a military response to social tensions caused by and resulting from a growing population Pressure on agriculture had been caused. The majority view since the 1960s has been that the increased use of iron has led to social change in Britain. Deposits of iron ore have been found in various locations in addition to the tin and copper ore used to make bronze. As a result, the trade structures changed and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power was shifting into the hands of other groups of people. Believing population growth also played a role, archaeologist Barry Cunliffe noted that “[the forts] provided defenses for the community as pressures [of population growth] discharged into open hostilities. But I don't think they were built because of the war. They functioned as a defensive bulwark in times of tension and no doubt some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only or even the decisive factor in their construction. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hillfort, King's Castle, Wiveliscombe . In: Somerset Historic Environment Record . Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 29, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / webapp1.somerset.gov.uk
  2. Jump up ↑ Andrew Payne, Mark Corney, Barry Cunliffe: The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England . English Heritage. 2007.
  3. ^ Niall M. Sharples: English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle . BT Batsford, London 1991. ISBN 0-7134-6083-0 . Pp. 71-72.
  4. ↑ Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds . Channel 4. May 19, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2015.

Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 45.7 "  N , 3 ° 17 ′ 22.3"  W.