Chalbury Hillfort View all content for Chalbury

http://www.roman-britain.org/places/celtic/chalbury.htm This pear-shaped fort is positioned atop a very steep hill dominating Weymouth Bay. Defenses consist of a single, 6m thick bank of rubble encased in drystone, and a flat-bottomed ditch with a simple entrance gap on the south-east. The hillfort defences were started sometime during the 5th century BC. Over 70 hut circles and numerous storage pits have been traced in the interior, and excavations at the site revealed a scatter of disarticulated human remains, which indicates exposure of the dead. The fort was very-likely the scene of - ultimately futile - resistance to the Roman advance through the area; this was presumably when occupation of the fort ended. There are many barrows and tumuli in the neighbourhood, including 2 Bronze Age round barrows at the centre of the fort itself, one of which contained a cremation burial.

Posted by phil 22nd December 2002ce

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