English Heritage Sites in Dorset - Maiden Castle, Dorset (Paperback)

Chapters: Maiden Castle, Dorset. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 41. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Maiden Castle, Dorset - Maiden Castle from the northThere was activity on the site of Maiden Castle before the hill fort was built; a Neolithic causewayed enclosure was constructed around 4000 BC. This was an oval area, enclosed by two ditches, and it is termed a causewayed enclosure because the way the ditches were dug meant that there would originally have been gaps in the ditches. These gaps, and the bank being only 17 centimetres (6.7 in) high, indicate the site would not have been defensive, but the ditches may have been symbolic, separating the interior of the enclosure and its activities from the outside. Archaeologist Niall Sharples, who was involved in excavating the hill fort in the 1980s, has identified the hilltop views of the surrounding landscape as a likely factor for the enclosure's position. Situated on the side of the hill, it would have been visible from several miles away, and when first cut the ditches would have exposed the underlying white chalk and stood out against the green hillside. The interior of the enclosure has been disturbed by later habitation and farming. The site does not appear to have been inhabited, although a grave containing the remains of two children, aged 67, has been discovered. The enclosure is the earliest evidence of human activity on the site. The purpose of Neolithic causewayed enclosures is unclear, and they probably had a variety of functions. As well as burials, indicating the site at Maiden Castle was important for rituals related to death, pottery from the coast and areas to the east and west indicate it was used as a meeting place which attracted people over long distances. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the enclosure was...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=157531