Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/231

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
PROTECTIVE WORKS
223

varied according to the nature of the ground and the materials readily procurable in the vicinity. The hill-forts of Scotland were usually constructed of either stones or earth, seldom a mixture of both being used—a fact strikingly illustrated by the two Caterthun Forts, in Forfarshire. One, the White Fort, is entirely built of stones, though strengthened by surrounding entrenchments; while the other, the Brown Caterthun, is mainly composed of earthwork. And yet they occupy rival summits, facing each other across a deep valley less than half-a-mile wide. In Wales and Scotland stone forts predominate, but in England earthworks are the prevailing defensive works, among which are very large specimens, such as Maumbury Rings (Dorchester), which measures 345 by 330 feet, and Cissbury Camp, on the Downs of West Sussex, which covers not less than 60 acres. One of the best known of these ancient strongholds is the British Camp on the Herefordshire Beacon near Malvern, which takes the form of an irregular oval 1100 yards in length. It contains a citadel entrenched within an array of amazing ramparts, ditches and fortified entrances.

The chronological range of these camps and forts extends from the Neolithic period down to post-Roman and even Norman times; but after the lapse of a few centuries they have all fallen into the category of the unknown, and it is only spade-work that