A
hillfort or
hill fort is a type of
earthworks used as a
fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the
Bronze and
Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-
Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more lines of
earthworks, with
stockades or
defensive walls, and external ditches. Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the
first millennium BC, and were in use in many
Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the
Roman conquest.
