Maiden Castle

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Maiden Castle 1935
location
Maiden Castle plateau
Maiden Castle ramparts
Maiden Castle ramparts

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort , built in its last form between 800 and 60 BC. It is near Dorchester in the English county of Dorset .

Research history

Mortimer Wheeler carried out groundbreaking excavations here in the 1930s.

Neolithic settlement

The hill has been used since 4000 BC. Used ( causewayed camp ). This interrupted earthwork dates to the Early Neolithic ( Western Carinated Ware ). In the upper part of the backfilling of the trenches, however, it also contained Middle Neolithic Peterborough goods . Maiden Castle Bank Barrow is also on the hill .

Iron Age fortification

The largest facility of its kind in England consists of a height surrounded by ramparts and ditches on a plateau of about 18 hectares - formerly built on with huts. The well-preserved ramparts reach a height of up to 25 m. The site is accessed through two complicated gate systems. Maiden Castle was part of the Durotriges tribe at that time .

Roman plants

The hill was conquered by the Romans in AD 43 and abandoned in favor of Dorchester from AD 70. Several burials were assigned to the Roman conquest by Wheeler. In the 4th century building activity started again. Among other things, a temple was built, the foundation walls of which can be seen in the area. A short time later, however, the facility was abandoned.

Maiden Castle is made accessible to tourists with an approx. One hour tour and information boards.

There are several other prehistoric sites of the same name, including the Scheduled Monument Maiden Castle on Bickerton Hill in Cheshire .

literature

  • Mortimer Wheeler : The excavation of Maiden Castle, Dorset. First, second and third interim reports . Society of Antiquaries of London , London 1935–1937. (Special prints from: The antiquaries journal. 15, July 1935, 3, ISSN  0003-5815 , pp. 265–275; 16, July 1936, 3, pp. 265–283; 17, July 1937, 3, pp. 261– 282).
  • Niall M. Sharples: Maiden Castle. Excavations and field survey 1985-6 (= Archaeological report. Volume 19). Historic Buildings & Monuments Commission for England, London 1991, ISBN 1-85074-273-1 ( digitized ).
  • Niall M. Sharples: Book of Maiden Castle . Batsford, London 1991, ISBN 0-7134-6079-2 .

Web links

Commons : Maiden Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 41 ′ 40 "  N , 2 ° 28 ′ 12"  W.