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I haven't read everything on this thread yet so excuse me if i'm repeating someone, but I was always brought up to believe that the vitrification was done purposely to strengthen the fort and is not a consequence of attack. How it was done i have no idea!
love carolinexx

Hi, that was the original conclusion but current archy thought is that it was more probably done by invaders as an attack or by accidental fire.

I originally started asking how would the temperatures get reached and the fort I visited had an even burn. I felt this was unlikely to have happened by accident and we generally concluded it must have been a deliberate act which needed significant organisation.

We have been discussing reasons to do it deliberately including defense, religious dedication and act of aggression. We have also looked back at accidental and other means.

I have looked into a few additional documented hill forts which were vitrifed and it seems that many those classified as vitrified fall into many categories including simple evidence of burning.

Another interesting aspect is the wealth of vitrified forts in scotland as opposed to england. This for me tends to indicate a particular custom and therefore a religious / social basis for vitrification.