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79-556: The oldest settlement in Cēsis is the hillfort on Riekstu hill , a fortified wooden castle built by a tribe known as the Vends . The 18-metre-high (59.06 ft) mound with its partly preserved fortification system can still be seen in the Castle Park. This settlement was located near major trade routes from west to east and dominated the regional countryside. German crusaders known as

158-685: A Csa climate well inland to ensure hot summers and cold winters. They are generally found in the highly elevated areas of south-eastern Turkey ( Hakkâri ), north-western Iran, northern Iraq, parts of Central Asia , parts of the High Atlas mountain range in central Morocco and very small parts of the Intermountain West in the United States. This climate zone does not exist at all in the Southern Hemisphere, where

237-486: A castro is a fortified pre- Roman Iron Age village, usually located on a hill or some naturally easy defendable place. The larger hillforts are also called citanias , cividades or cidás (English: cities ). They were located on hilltops, which allowed tactical control over the surrounding countryside and provided natural defences. They usually had access to a spring or small creek to provide water; some even had large reservoirs to use during sieges . Typically,

316-453: A castro had one to five stone and earth walls, which complemented the natural defences of the hill. The buildings inside, most of them circular in shape, some rectangular, were about 3.5–15 m (11–49 ft) long; they were made out of stone with thatch roofs resting on a wood column in the centre of the building. In the major oppida there were regular streets, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in area from less than

395-614: A classification). More extreme and inland humid continental climates, sometimes known as "hyper-continental" climates, are found in northeast China , southern Siberia , Mongolia , Kazakhstan , most of the southern interior of Canada , and the Upper Midwest , where temperatures in the winter resemble those of adjacent subarctic climates (with long, drier, generally very cold winters) but have longer and generally warmer summers (in occasional cases, hot summers). A more moderate variety, found in places like Honshu , east-central China,

474-451: A common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts. The Latvian word for hillfort is pilskalns (plural: pilskalni ), from pils (castle) and kalns (hill). 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

553-689: A distance. Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe; in the Late Iron Age it 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

632-929: A hectare to some 50 hectare ones, and most were abandoned after the Roman conquest of the territory. Many castros were already established during the Atlantic Bronze Age period, pre-dating the Hallstatt culture . Many of the megaliths from the Bronze Age such as menhirs and dolmens , 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

711-516: A marked reduction in wintry precipitation, which increases the chances of a wintertime drought ( w ). Snowfall occurs in all areas with a humid continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the snow cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms , and in North America and Asia an occasional tropical cyclone (or

790-944: 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 Reducciones as the Ivatan population were moved into centralized towns in the lowlands. 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 palisades . Traditional pā took

869-407: 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 period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks or stone ramparts , with stockades or defensive walls , and external ditches. If enemies were approaching, the civilians would spot them from

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948-404: A role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not

1027-478: 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. There are around 40 known hillforts in Ireland. About 12 are multivallate as distinguished by multiple ramparts, or a large counterscarp (outer bank). The imposing example at Mooghaun

1106-739: A subarctic climate. In the Southern Hemisphere , it exists in well-defined areas only in the Southern Alps of New Zealand , in the Snowy Mountains of Australia in Kiandra, New South Wales and the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile . Since climate regimes tend to be dominated by vegetation of one region with relatively homogenous ecology, those that project climate change remap their results in

1185-526: A thermal profile, but because of semi-arid precipitation portions of it are grouped into the BSk category. In Europe , it is found in much of Central Europe : Germany (in the east and southeast part of the country), Austria (generally below 700 m (2,297 ft)), Poland , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Croatia (mostly Slavonia region), in much of Eastern Europe : Ukraine (the whole country except

1264-484: 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. Humid continental climate A humid continental climate

1343-923: Is linnamägi (plural linnamäed ), meaning hillfort or hillburgh . There are several hundred hillforts or presumed ancient hillfort sites all over Estonia. Some of them, like Toompea in Tallinn or Toomemägi in Tartu, are governance centres used since ancient times up until today. Some others, like Varbola are historical sites nowadays. Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of Estonian tribes . 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 ). List of Estonian fortresses  [ et ] contains

1422-447: Is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold (sometimes severely cold in the northern areas) and snowy winters. Precipitation is usually distributed throughout the year, but often these regions do have dry seasons. The definition of this climate in terms of temperature

1501-442: Is as follows: the mean temperature of the coldest month must be below 0 °C (32.0 °F) or −3 °C (26.6 °F) depending on the isotherm, and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid . The cooler Dfb , Dwb , and Dsb subtypes are also known as hemiboreal climates. Although amount of snowfall

1580-402: Is defended by multiple stone walls. One must be careful to not confuse a hill-fort with a ' ringfort '—a medieval settlement—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. In Galicia , Asturias , Cantabria , Basque Country , province of Ávila and Northern Portugal

1659-521: Is found in northern Kazakhstan , southern Siberia , parts of Mongolia , northern China , and highland elevations in the Koreas . Like its hot-summer counterpart, these climates are typically dry in the winter and bitterly cold due to the Siberian High (often with winter temperatures comparable to their nearby subarctic climates ), while summers are warm and long enough to avoid classification as

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1738-467: Is less extreme than the most inland hyper-continental variety. Using the Köppen climate classification , a climate is classified as humid continental when the temperature of the coldest month is below 0 °C [32.0 °F] or −3 °C [26.6 °F] and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). These temperatures were not arbitrary. In Europe,

1817-565: Is less seasonally uniform in the west. The western states of the western United States (namely Montana , Wyoming , parts of southern Idaho , most of Lincoln County in Eastern Washington , parts of Colorado , parts of Utah , isolated parts of northern New Mexico , western Nebraska , and parts of western North and South Dakota ) have thermal regimes which fit the Dfa climate type, but are quite dry, and are generally grouped with

1896-404: Is not a factor used in defining the humid continental climate, snow during the winter in this type of climate is almost a guarantee, either intermittently throughout the winter months near the poleward or coastal margins, or persistently throughout the winter months elsewhere in the climate zone. Humid continental climates are generally found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N , within

1975-724: Is noted during the autumn of deciduous forests. In the poleward direction, these climates transition into subarctic climates featuring short summers (and usually very cold winters) allowing only conifer trees. Moving equatorword, the hot-summer continental climates grade into humid subtropical climates (chiefly in North America and Asia) while the warm-summer continental climates grade into oceanic climates (chiefly in Europe), both of which have milder winters where average temperatures stay above 0°C (or -3°C). Some continental climates with lower precipitation (chiefly in Central Asia and

2054-484: Is the largest amongst forts reoccupied following the end of Roman rule , to defend against pirate raids, and the Anglo-Saxon 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 c.  600 BCE

2133-701: Is to be found in northern China including Manchuria and parts of North China , south-east Russia , and over much of the Korean Peninsula ; it has the Köppen classification Dwa . Much of central Asia , northwestern China , and southern Mongolia has a thermal regime similar to that of the Dfa climate type, but these regions receive so little precipitation that they are more often classified as steppes ( BSk ) or deserts ( BWk ). Dsa climates are rare; they are generally restricted to elevated areas adjacent to mid-latitude Mediterranean climate regions with

2212-698: The Black Sea coast), Belarus , Russia (mostly central part of European Russia ), south and central parts of the Nordic countries not bathed by the Atlantic Ocean or North Sea : Sweden (historical regions of Svealand and Götaland ), Denmark , Finland (south end, including the three largest cities ), Norway (most populated area), all Baltic States : Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania and also in parts of: Romania (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Bosnia and Herzegovina , Turkey and in

2291-616: 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 invasion of Teutonic Knights 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

2370-482: The Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland , (generally above 100 m (328 ft)). It has little warming or precipitation effects from the northern Atlantic. The cool summer subtype is marked by mild summers, long cold winters and less precipitation than the hot summer subtype; however, short periods of extreme heat are not uncommon. Northern Japan has a similar climate. In Asia, this climate type

2449-484: The Dfa climate type is present near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine , the Southern Federal District of Russia , southern Moldova , Serbia , parts of southern Romania , and Bulgaria , but tends to be drier and can be even semi-arid in these places. In East Asia, this climate exhibits a monsoonal tendency with much higher precipitation in summer than in winter, and due to the effects of

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2528-702: The Hill Forts of Rajasthan . 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

2607-538: The Korean Peninsula , parts of Eastern Europe , parts of southern Ontario , much of the American Midwest , and the Northeast US , the climate combines hotter summer maxima and greater humidity (similar to those found in adjacent humid subtropical climates ) and moderately cold winters and more intermittent snow cover (averaging somewhat below freezing, too cold for a more temperate classification), and

2686-750: The Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of a castle Wenden near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master. In 1577, during the Livonian War , the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible , who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578) . In 1598, it

2765-901: 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. As of 2017 , according to the Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts , there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as piliakalniai . Most piliakalniai are located near rivers and are endangered by erosion: many have partly collapsed as

2844-403: The ruins of the Order's castle, Cēsis Castle and fortification walls, fragments of which can still be seen at Vaļņu iela and Palasta iela. In addition, ancient road networks and building plots have survived from medieval times, although many of the buildings themselves have been ruined (the last destroyed in 1748). 18th century buildings can be seen at 16 and 25 Rīgas iela, while houses built in

2923-479: 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

3002-591: The Canadian Prairie Provinces and below 40°N in the high Appalachians . In Europe, this subtype reaches its most northerly latitude in Bodø at the 67°N . High-altitude locations such as Flagstaff, Arizona , Aspen, Colorado and Los Alamos, New Mexico in the western United States exhibit local Dfb climates. The south-central and southwestern Prairie Provinces also fits the Dfb criteria from

3081-544: The Celtic Druids . The Celtiberian 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 . During the period of Late Antiquity or Migration Period a large number of hilltop settlements were established both on the Roman imperial territory and on Germanic soil. However,

3160-720: The Cēsis castle estate was obtained by Count Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the Eastern Block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower. Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in the New Castle on the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of

3239-732: 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. The Estonian word for hillfort

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3318-440: 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. Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts are widely found in Ireland. They are large circular structures between 1 and 40 acres (most commonly 5–10 acres) in size, enclosed by

3397-443: The Iron Age which may have had several functions. They are usually located on the crests of hills and mountains making use of precipices and marshes which worked as natural defences. The crests' more accessible parts were defended with walls of stone and outer walls in the slopes beneath are common. Round and closed, so-called ring forts are common even on flat ground. The walls often have remaining parts of stone, which were probably

3476-546: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC , and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest. They are most common during later periods: 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

3555-595: The Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia— Cēsu Alus , which was built in 1878 during the latter years of Count Sievers' residency, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on is the Cēsis castle park, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its footpaths, exotic plants , and the waters of the pond reflecting

3634-547: The Western United States) grade into semi-arid climates with similar temperatures but low precipitation. A hot summer version of a continental climate features an average temperature of at least 22 °C (71.6 °F) in its warmest month. Since these regimes are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, the warmest month is usually July or August. High temperatures during the warmest month tend to be in

3713-494: The castle's ruins. The planning of the town of Cēsis was done in the second half of the 13th century. The marketplace with a church was in the centre of the town. The centre of housing was the stone castle of the Livonian Order, with its three fortified towers. The town was also encircled by a dolomite stone wall with eight towers and five gates. Buildings from the Middle Ages include St. John 's Church (built 1281–1284),

3792-420: The central and northeastern portions of North America , Europe , and Asia . Occasionally, they can also be found at higher elevations above other more temperate climate types. They are rare in the Southern Hemisphere , limited to isolated high altitude locations, due to the larger ocean area at that latitude, smaller land mass, and the consequent greater maritime moderation. In the Northern Hemisphere, some of

3871-459: The classification symbol defines seasonal rainfall as follows: while the third letter denotes the extent of summer heat: Within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Great Lakes , Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic . Precipitation is relatively well distributed year-round in many areas with this climate ( f ), while others may see

3950-425: The continents either do not penetrate low enough in latitude or taper too much to have any place that gets the combination of snowy winters and hot summers. Marine influences are very strong around 40°S and such preclude Dfa , Dwa , and Dsa climates from existing in the southern hemisphere. Also known as hemiboreal climate , areas featuring this subtype of the continental climate have an average temperature in

4029-706: 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 . Norway has about 400 hillforts. Denmark has 26 hillforts. The Finnish word for hillfort is linnavuori (plural linnavuoret ), meaning fort hill or castle hill , or alternatively muinaislinna meaning ancient fort , as opposed to bare linna which refers to medieval or later fortifications. One special feature about

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4108-455: The emergence of hillforts in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view, since the 1960s, has been that

4187-437: 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

4266-563: 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

4345-401: The first part of the 19th century are at 15 and 47 Rīgas iela, 6 Gaujas iela, and other streets. Cēsis was occupied by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus in 1621 during the Polish–Swedish War . In the second half of the 19th century, the construction of the Rīga- Pskov highway (1868) and the Rīga-Valka railway line (1889) accelerated the development of the town. Raunas iela, leading from

4424-400: 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. In Russia , Belarus and Poland Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called gords . They were the residence of local rulers, and provided for refuge in times of war. Similar structures can be found elsewhere in the world, such as

4503-466: The forts were destroyed, the local people forcibly evicted, and the forts left derelict. For example, Solsbury Hill was sacked and deserted during the Belgic invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Abandoned forts were sometimes reoccupied and refortified under renewed threat of foreign invasion, such as the Dukes' Wars in Lithuania , and the successive invasions of Britain by Romans , Saxons and Vikings . Celtic hillforts developed in

4582-409: The high 20s to low 30s °C (80s °F), while average January afternoon temperatures are near or well below freezing. Frost-free periods typically last 4 to 7 months in this climate regime. Within North America , this climate includes portions of the central and eastern United States from east of 100°W to south of about the 44°N to the Atlantic . Precipitation increases further eastward in this zone and

4661-439: The humid continental climate covers a much larger area than the hot subtype. In North America, the climate zone covers from about 42°N to 50°N latitude mostly east of 100°W , including parts of Southern Ontario , the southern half of Quebec , The Maritimes , and Newfoundland , as well as the northern United States from eastern North Dakota east to Maine . However, it can be found as far north as 54°N , and further west in

4740-421: The humid continental climates, typically in around Hokkaido , Sakhalin Island , northeastern mainland Europe , Scandinavia , Nova Scotia , and Newfoundland are closer to the sea and heavily maritime-influenced and comparable to oceanic climates , with relatively cool summers, significant year-round precipitation (including high amounts of snow) and winters being just below the freezing mark (too cold for such

4819-399: The increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze and, as a result, trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played

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4898-426: 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

4977-527: The only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction". 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

5056-440: The railway station to the Old Town, was developed as a wide, presentable street with the Latvian Society House at 10 Raunas iela (architect Augusts Malvess ), the Building of the Regional Court at 14 Raunas iela (architect P. Mengelis), and other important buildings. The Battle of Cēsis in June 1919, when Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans, was one of the decisive battles in the Latvian War of Independence . Cēsis

5135-537: The remnants thereof). Though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the "humid" designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid . By definition, forests thrive within this climate. Biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous or evergreen forests, coniferous forests, and coniferous swamps. Within wetter areas, maple , spruce , pine , fir , and oak can be found. Fall foliage

5214-463: The steppe ( BSk ) climates. In the eastern and Midwestern United States, Pennsylvania , Ohio , Illinois , Indiana , southern New York , most of Connecticut and Rhode Island , and eastern Massachusetts fall into the hot-summer humid continental climate. In Canada, this climate type exists only over portions of Southern Ontario . In the Eastern Hemisphere, this climate regime is found within interior Eurasia and east-central Asia. Within Europe,

5293-488: The strong Siberian High much colder winter temperatures than similar latitudes around the world, however with lower snowfall, the exception being western Japan with its heavy snowfall. Tōhoku , between Tokyo and Hokkaidō and Western coast of Japan also has a climate with Köppen classification Dfa , but is wetter even than that part of North America with this climate type. A variant which has dry winters and hence relatively lower snowfall with monsoonal type summer rainfall

5372-489: The support of pales. They often have well delineated gateways, the gates of which were probably of wood. Hillforts with strong walls are often located beside old trade routes and have an offensive character, whereas others are reclusive and were weakly fortified, probably only for hiding during raids. 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

5451-426: The term embraces a wide range of very different settlements in high locations. At least a few of the Germanic settlements were protected by fortifications. Unlike the Romans, however, the Germanii did not use mortar at that time for their construction. Among the best known hill settlements in Germany are the Runder Berg near Bad Urach and the Gelbe Bürg near Dittenheim. In Sweden, hillforts are fortifications from

5530-435: The warmest month below 22 °C (72 °F). Summer high temperatures in this zone typically average between 21–28 °C (70–82 °F) during the daytime and the average temperatures in the coldest month are generally well or far below the −3 °C (27 °F) (or 0 °C (32.0 °F)) isotherm. Frost-free periods typically last 3–5 months. Heat spells lasting over a week are rare. The warm summer version of

5609-455: The −3 °C (27 °F) average temperature isotherm (line of equal temperature) was near the southern extent of winter snowpack . In the United States, it is more common to use the 0 °C [32.0 °F] isotherm instead. The 10 °C (50 °F) average temperature was found to be roughly the minimum temperature necessary for tree reproduction and growth. Wide temperature ranges are common within this climate zone. Second letter in

5688-520: 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 oppida . By this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns. The reason for

5767-985: 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 50 acres (20  ha ). Even those that were defensive settlements in

5846-558: Was also developed as a health resort . Upmarket summer houses and health centres were built in the vicinity of the Gauja. 'Cīrulīši' near the Svētavots (Holy Spring) Cave is the most remarkable of them, with a spring believed to possess healing powers. Cēsis has a humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ). Cēsis is twinned with: Hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit

5925-682: Was incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Wenden Voivodeship was created. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. From the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adapted to the requirements of the Cēsis castle estate. When in 1777

6004-673: 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. The Lithuanian word for hillfort is piliakalnis (plural piliakalniai ), from pilis (=castle) and kalnas (=mountain, hill). Lithuania has hillforts dating from

6083-506: 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. Danebury in Hampshire , is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published. Cadbury Castle, Somerset

6162-503: 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

6241-568: 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

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