61-463: Wittenham Clumps are a pair of wooded chalk hills in the Thames Valley , in the civil parish of Little Wittenham , in the historic county of Berkshire , although since 1974 administered as part of South Oxfordshire district. The higher of the two, Round Hill , is 390 feet (120 m) above sea-level. The 350-foot (110 m) Castle Hill is about 380 yards (350 m) south-east and
122-486: 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,
183-453: 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
244-451: 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
305-689: 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
366-929: 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
427-417: A large rectilinear enclosure, which was subsequently singled out for excavation. This revealed the remains of a Romano-British house with tesserae (mosaic) floors and painted wall plaster on the southern slope of Round Hill. The area also contained an Iron-Age cobbled floor, together with post holes that could have related to a structure. Further investigations found Iron Age rubbish pits distributed all over
488-490: A pit dug into the ground. In January 2024, archaeologists from DigVentures found an iron age workshop dating from between 770 and 515 BC. The workshop was found downslope from the hillfort. The eastern side of Castle Hill is the location of the Victorian ' Poem Tree ', a beech tree which had a poem carved into it by Joseph Tubb of Warborough Green in 1844–45. The tree, which died in the 1990s, collapsed in 2012; there
549-944: 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
610-407: 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
671-404: 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
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#1732781030087732-478: 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
793-432: A total of seven hectares using ground-penetrating radar. The original focus was the previously unexplored Round Hill, but difficulties in carrying out geophysical studies on its tree-covered crest forced the team to abandon their original goal. Moving down the southern slopes, however, many hidden features emerged, including enclosure ditches, pits, possible buildings, and other clusters of anomalies. The geophysics highlighted
854-449: A warning of falling branches due to fungal decay of many of its trees. There is a hillfort on Castle Hill. The earliest earthworks date to the late Bronze Age . More banks and ditches were added during the early Iron Age . Excavation has revealed that the Iron Age inhabitants caught fish and wild boar as well as herding cattle and sheep. There is also evidence of barley and wheat cultivation. The fort appears to have been abandoned by
915-458: A wedge shape towards the fringes of London. It contains 38 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and significant amounts of broadleaf forest , including Burnham Beeches , Windsor Great Park and Richmond Park . The Thames Valley is a technology hub centred around Reading , and stretching as far out as Swindon , Oxford and Slough . It is part of the M4 corridor . As a tourist destination,
976-923: 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
1037-594: Is a major tourist destination and economic hub on the M4 corridor , with a high concentration of technology companies. The area east of Reading is defined by Natural England as the Thames Valley National Character Area , while Thames Valley Police cover the counties of Berkshire , Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire . As a National Character Area, the Thames Valley is bounded to the west by Reading , fanning out roughly in
1098-402: 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
1159-532: Is included on the front of the second edition of Lucas’s map, published in 2024, (ISBN 978-1-8384385-8-6, Cittern Press, 2024). 51°37′42″N 1°10′46″W / 51.62845°N 1.17937°W / 51.62845; -1.17937 Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an area in South East England that extends along the River Thames west of London towards Oxford . The area
1220-485: Is now a stone commemorating the 150th anniversary of the carving. Wittenham Clumps is said to be where Matthew Prior wrote Henry and Emma , and this is commemorated by a plaque. Wittenham Clumps were repeatedly painted by the 20th-century British artist Paul Nash . In 2007, Radiohead filmed a music video for the song, Faust Arp on The Wittenham Clumps. The finale to the Black Mirror episode, Shut Up and Dance,
1281-484: 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
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#17327810300871342-616: 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
1403-702: 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
1464-901: 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
1525-479: 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
1586-609: The Berkshire and Oxfordshire countryside from the Clumps themselves are also spectacular; a viewpoint guide on the north side of Round Hill gives directions to many sights, the furthest being Faringdon Folly , a tower built on another Iron Age hillfort 27 kilometres (17 mi) to the west. Day's Lock and Dorchester Abbey are clearly visible in the valley to the north, with the 15-storey Plowman Tower in Northway, Oxford visible on
1647-544: 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,
1708-732: 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
1769-440: 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
1830-443: 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
1891-546: 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
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1952-601: The Money-Pit and a clump of trees named the Cuckoo Pen. The Money-Pit is supposedly the location of a treasure hoard guarded by a raven, and the Cuckoo Pen gets its name from the local belief that a trapped cuckoo would ensure eternal Summer. Wittenham Clumps are located at grid reference SU569925 , close to the River Thames , and good views can be had from the Thames Path along the river. The panoramic views of
2013-537: The Thames Valley is close to the River Thames , running from the source to the M25 motorway . It is a popular boating destination. Thames Valley Police cover the counties of Berkshire , Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire . The force is governed by the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner . Hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit
2074-706: 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
2135-455: 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
2196-410: The excavations is of the site being occupied since the Bronze Age around 1000 BC, the hillfort and surrounding farms dating from around 600 BC, followed by a move down towards the southern part of the site around 300 BC. The area was then abandoned, until the construction of the Roman villa. Among the many artefacts found in the area are an oval bronze shield around 35 cm in diameter, retrieved from
2257-651: 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
2318-563: 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
2379-510: The first settlements of the English . The view from The Clumps was described by the artist Paul Nash , who first saw them in 1911, as "a beautiful legendary country haunted by old gods long forgotten". The Clumps are the most visited outdoor site in the administrative county of Oxfordshire, attracting over 200,000 visitors a year. A car park was added in 1971, and the extensive network of paths are accessible by foot all year round. A path through
2440-400: 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
2501-625: 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
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2562-528: The horizon, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) away. The white-walled reactor buildings of the Joint European Torus , site of the world's first successful controlled nuclear fusion experiments, can be seen around 6 km to the north-west. To the west, there is the town of Didcot, with some of the chimneys of the gas-fired Didcot B Power Station visible. Formerly, the 110-metre-tall (360 ft) cooling towers of Didcot A Power Station, constructed in
2623-399: 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
2684-474: The late 1960s, dominated the skyline around Didcot; they were demolished in phases from 2014 to 2020. To the north-east is Little Wittenham Wood , which borders the Thames, and to the south-east is Brightwell Barrow. The wooded area at the top of Castle Hill, which contains a public footpath, is now closed indefinitely due to the danger of falling trees. The entrance to the wooded area atop Round Hill also carries
2745-475: The late Iron Age, the next occupants being Romans . A 2004 episode of the Channel 4 archaeological television programme Time Team focused on the Clumps. In 2004, Castle Hill was under excavation by Oxford Archaeology, and Time Team was charged with investigating the surrounding landscape to find any trace of activity that could be associated with the Clumps. Over a period of three days, Time Team surveyed
2806-598: 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
2867-580: The name is a scholarly creation, punning on the Latin 'sinus' (bosom). Other lesser-used and more colloquial names for the Clumps include the Berkshire Bubs (since the Clumps are in the historic county of Berkshire, though this area was transferred to Oxfordshire administratively in 1974 ) and Mother Dunch's Buttocks (after a local Lady of the Manor named Dunch ). On Sinodun Hill is a hollow named
2928-620: The nearby river Isis in 1836 and the 70 cm long Wittenham Sword and scabbard , found in 1982 and dating from the Late Iron Age (120 BC - AD 43) In February 2021, archaeologists headed by Chris Casswell from DigVentures announced the discovery of at least 15 roundhouses dating from 400 to 100 BC. and remains of Roman villa dating from 3rd to early 4th century CE. According to excavators, members of noble family would have lived in this Roman villa. Researchers have also revealed some Roman kitchen utensils and an Iron Age "fridge" or pantry-ceramic food storage containers to keep food cool and safe in
2989-643: 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
3050-489: 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
3111-763: 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
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#17327810300873172-419: The valley, suggesting widespread settlement throughout the period. Pottery finds indicated that most activity took place in the earlier and later phases of the period, with a quieter occupation phase in the middle. The geophysics surveys also uncovered more suspected Iron Age enclosures along with what appeared to be a Roman road, which would have been associated with the site. The overall chronology suggested by
3233-596: The wooded area at the top of Round Hill has enabled access since 2005, after being closed for twenty years. The site and its surroundings are maintained as a Nature Reserve by the Earth Trust . Strictly speaking, the name Wittenham Clumps refers to the wooded summits of these hills, which are themselves more properly referred to as the Sinodun Hills , the name Sinodun deriving from Celtic , Seno-Dunum, meaning 'Old Fort'. Alternatively, it has been suggested that
3294-520: 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
3355-985: 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
3416-610: Was filmed in the same spot, with Radiohead's song Exit Music (For a Film) featured. In 2021, Robin Alexander Lucas published a new poem about The Wittenham Clumps, the Money Pit and the Raven that is said to guard it, entitled The Money Pit – or – The Sinodun Hoard . It was printed on the reverse side of a decorative map of The Wittenham Clumps, published by Cittern Press, (ISBN 978-1-8384385-9-3, Cittern Press, 2021). The poem
3477-565: 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
3538-398: 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
3599-443: 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
3660-467: Was the site of an Iron Age hill fort . A third hill, not normally considered one of The Clumps, is Brightwell Barrow , further to the south-east. The grassed slopes of The Clumps lead up to summits wooded by the oldest beech tree plantings in England, dating to the 1740s. Standing over 70 metres above their surroundings, the Clumps have a prominent appearance and panoramic views, with the north slopes overlooking villages and towns whose sites mark some of
3721-439: 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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