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{{Short description|Fortified refuge or defended settlement on a rise of elevation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
[[File:Aerial photograph of Maiden Castle, 1935.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] in England is one of the largest hillforts in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.15733 |title=Maiden Castle |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |access-date=2009-05-31}}</ref><ref>{{PastScape |mname=Maiden Castle |mnumber=451864 |access-date=2009-05-27}}</ref> Photograph taken in 1935 by [[George W. G. Allen|Major George Allen]] (1891–1940).]]
{{war}}

A '''hillfort''' is a type of [[fortification|fortified]] refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late [[Bronze Age Europe|European Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age Europe|Iron Age]]. Some were used in the post-[[Roman Empire|Roman]] period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of [[Earthworks (Archaeology)|earthworks]] or stone [[Rampart (fortification)|ramparts]], with [[stockade]]s or [[defensive walls]], and external ditches. If enemies were approaching, the inhabitants would spot them from a distance.

Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000&nbsp;BC, during the Neolithic period, between 2&nbsp;million and 5&nbsp;million people lived in Europe; in the Late Iron Age, Europe had an estimated population of around 15 to 30&nbsp;million. Outside [[Greece]] and [[Italy]], which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with perhaps no more than 50&nbsp;inhabitants. Hillforts were the exception, and were the home of up to 1,000&nbsp;people. With the emergence of ''[[oppida]]'' in the Late Iron Age, settlements could reach as large as 10,000&nbsp;inhabitants.<ref>{{harvnb|McIntosh|2009|p=349}}</ref> As the population increased, so did the complexity of prehistoric societies. Around 1100&nbsp;BC hillforts emerged and in the following centuries spread through Europe. They served a range of purposes and were variously tribal centres, defended places, foci of ritual activity, and places of production.<ref>{{harvnb|McIntosh|2009|p=162}}</ref>

Hillforts were frequently occupied by conquering armies, but on other occasions the forts were destroyed, the local people forcibly evicted, and the forts left derelict. For example, [[Solsbury Hill]] was sacked and deserted during the [[Belgae|Belgic]] invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Abandoned forts were sometimes reoccupied and refortified under renewed threat of foreign invasion, such as during the [[Lithuanian Civil War (disambiguation)|Dukes' Wars]] in [[Lithuania]], and the successive invasions of Britain by [[Roman conquest of Britain|Romans]], [[Saxons#Saxons in Britain|Saxons]] and [[Viking activity in the British Isles|Vikings]].

== Celtic hillforts ==
Celtic hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the [[1st millennium BC|first millennium&nbsp;BC]], and were used in many [[Celt]]ic areas of [[Central Europe|central]] and [[western Europe]] until the Roman conquest. They are most common during later periods:
* The Proto-Celtic [[Urnfield culture]] and [[Atlantic Bronze Age]]<ref>{{harvnb|Ayán Vila|2008|p=913}}</ref> (Bronze Age, c. 1300 BC – 750 BC)
* [[Hallstatt culture]] ( early Iron Age, c. 1200 BC – 500 BC)
* [[La Tène culture]] (late Iron Age, c. 600 BC – 50 AD)

The [[Hallstatt culture]] and [[La Tène culture]] originated in what is now southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, [[Slovakia]] and the Czech Republic. The predominant form of rampart construction was ''[[pfostenschlitzmauer]]'', or ''Kelheim-style''. During the Hallstatt&nbsp;C period, hillforts became the dominant settlement type in the west of Hungary.<ref>{{harvnb|Collis|2003|p=79}}</ref> [[Julius Caesar]] described the large Late Iron Age hillforts he encountered during his campaigns in [[Gaul]] as [[oppidum|oppida]]. By this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns.

=== Great Britain ===
{{Main article|Hillforts in Britain}}
[[File:British camp central mound 2005.jpg|thumb|The ramparts of the multivallate [[British Camp]] in Herefordshire]]

The reason for the emergence of hillforts in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view, since the 1960s, has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were not located in the same places as the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze and, as a result, trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharples|1991|pp=71–72}}</ref> Archaeologist [[Barry Cunliffe]] believes that population increase also played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2008/swords/swords-found.html |title=Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |date=2008-05-19 |access-date=16 September 2009}}</ref>

Hillforts in Britain are known from the [[Bronze Age]], but the great period of hillfort construction was during the Celtic Iron Age, between 700 BC and the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] in 43 AD. The Romans occupied some forts, such as the military garrison at [[Hod Hill]], and the temple at [[Brean Down]], but others were destroyed and abandoned. Partially articulated remains of between 28 and 40 men, women and children at [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]] were thought by the excavator<ref name="WTC">{{harvnb|Alcock|1972|pp=161–163}}</ref> to implicate the Cadbury population in a revolt in the 70's AD (roughly contemporary with that of Boudicca in the East of England), although this has been questioned by subsequent researchers.<ref>{{harvnb|Barrett|2000}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Tabor|2008|pp=156–164}}</ref> However, the presence of barracks on the hilltop in the decades following the conquest suggest an ongoing struggle to suppress local dissent.

[[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] in Dorset is the largest hillfort in England. Where Roman influence was less strong, such as uninvaded Ireland and unsubdued northern Scotland, hillforts were still built and used for several more centuries.

There are over 2,000 Iron Age hillforts known in Britain, of which nearly 600 are in Wales.<ref>[http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hist_periods/iron_age.htm The Iron Age] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207021902/http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/hist_periods/iron_age.htm |date=7 February 2009 }}, smr.herefordshire.gov.uk</ref> [[Danebury]] in [[Hampshire]], is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published.<ref>{{harvnb|Cunliffe|2000}}</ref>

[[File:Camp Knowe Hillfort, Northumberland in England.jpg|thumb|A [[lidar]] view of Camp Knowe Iron Age Hillfort in Northumberland.]]

[[Cadbury Castle, Somerset]], is the largest fort reoccupied following the end of [[Roman Britain|Roman rule]] to defend against [[pirate]] raids and the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] invasions. The cemetery outside [[Poundbury Hill]] contains east-facing Christian burials of the 4th century CE. In Wales, the hillfort at [[Dinas Powys hillfort|Dinas Powys]] was a Late [[Iron Age]] hillfort reoccupied from the 5th-6th centuries CE;<ref>{{Citation|last=Alcock |first=Leslie |date=1963 |title=Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age and Early Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan |publisher=University of Wales Press }}</ref> similarly at [[Castell Dinas Brân]] a hillfort of {{Circa|600 BCE}} was reused in the Middle Ages, with a stone castle built there in the 13th century CE.<ref>{{citation |last=King |first=D. J. Cathcart  |title=Two Castles in Northern Powys: Dinas Bran and Caergwrle |journal=Archaeologia Cambrensis |volume=CXXIII |year=1974 |pages=113–139}}</ref>

Some Iron Age hillforts were also incorporated into medieval frontier earthworks. For example [[Offa's Dyke]], a [[linear earthwork]] generally dated to the 9th century CE, makes use of the west and south-west ramparts of [[Llanymynech]] hillfort.<ref>{{Coflein|num=92487 |desc= Llanymynech Hillfort |access-date=1 October 2021}}</ref> Similarly the hillfort at [[Old Oswestry]] was incorporated into the early medieval [[Wat's Dyke]].<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/old-oswestry-hillfort/history/ |title=English Heritage page 'History of Old Oswestry Hillfort' }}</ref> The [[Wansdyke (earthwork)|Wansdyke]] was a new [[linear earthwork]] connected to the existing hillfort at [[Maes Knoll]], which defined the Celtic-Saxon border in south-west England during the period 577–652 CE.

Some hillforts were re-occupied by the [[Anglo-Saxons]] during the period of [[Viking]] raids. [[King Alfred]] established a network of coastal hillforts and lookout posts in [[Wessex]], linked by a ''[[Herepath]]'', or military road, which enabled his armies to cover Viking movements at sea. For example, see [[Daw's Castle]] and [[Battle of Cynwit]].

It has been suggested on reasonable evidence that many so-called hillforts were just used to pen in cattle, horses, or other domesticated animals. The large sprawling examples at [[Bindon Hill]] and [[Bathampton Down]] are more than {{convert|50|acre|ha|lk=out}}. Even those that were defensive settlements in the Iron Age were sometimes used for corralling animals in later periods. For example, see [[Coney's Castle]], [[Dolebury Warren]] and [[Pilsdon Pen]]. However, it is difficult to prove that people definitely did not dwell there, as lack of evidence is not proof of absence.

=== Ireland ===
{{Main article|List of hillforts in Ireland}}
[[File:Griahan of aileach.jpg|thumb|Exterior view of the Ringfort ''[[Grianan of Aileach]]'' situated in County Donegal]]

Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts are widely found in Ireland,<ref>O'Driscoll, J., Hawkes, A. and O'Brien, W. (2019) 'The Irish hillfort', in Lock, G. and Ralston, I. (eds.) Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent - Papers from the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland Conference, June 2017. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 77-96. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvnb7r0b. https://hdl.handle.net/10468/12265</ref> with more than 500 identified in Ireland and Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Atlas of Hillforts |url=https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/40ccda26452f427a9f081506958e1d81/#widget_23=active_datasource_id:acf7b6cc651c4bc1a392992140d959ca,center:-882617.0402352328,7022145.161448527,102100,scale:7269562.851905173,rotation:0&widget_27=search_status:%7B%22serviceEnabledList%22:%5B%22config_0%22%5D%7D |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=}}</ref> They are large circular structures between 1 and 40 acres (most commonly 5–10 acres) in size, enclosed by a stone wall or earthen rampart or both. These would have been important tribal centres where the chief or king of the area would live with his extended family and support themselves by farming and renting cattle to their underlings.

About 12 are multivallate, distinguished by multiple ramparts or a large [[counterscarp]] (outer bank). The imposing example at Mooghaun is defended by multiple stone walls.

One must be careful to not confuse a hillfort with a medieval '[[ringfort]]', a common archaeological feature across the whole island of Ireland, of which over 40,000 examples are known;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturalheritageireland.ie/index.php/heritage-sites-and-centres/69-ringforts|title=Ringforts|website=www.culturalheritageireland.ie|date=8 August 2023 }}</ref> one source claims there may be 10,000 undiscovered ringforts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.markfisherauthor.com/2016/05/mystery-ancient-irish-ringforts-part/|title=The Mystery of Ancient, Irish Ringforts — Part I|first=Mark E.|last=Fisher|date=29 May 2016}}</ref>

== Other Hillforts in Europe ==

=== Iberian Peninsula ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Campoo]] -->
[[File:Castro de Coaña.JPG|thumb|Hillfort at Coaña, [[Asturias]], Spain]]
{{Main article|Castro culture}}
{{Main article|Castros in Spain}}
[[File:Castrogalego.jpg|thumb|Hillfort in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]]]
In [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]], [[province of Ávila]] and [[Northern Portugal]] a ''castro'' is a fortified pre-[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] Iron Age village, usually located on a hill or some naturally easy defendable place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castrenor.com/?mod=mapacastros&event=listaCastros&lang=en |title=Castrenor |publisher=Castrenor |access-date=2010-06-21}}</ref> The larger hillforts are also called {{lang|la|citanias}}, {{lang|la|cividades}} or {{lang|la|cidás}} (English: ''cities'').
They were located on hilltops, which allowed tactical control over the surrounding countryside and provided natural defences. They usually had access to a spring or small creek to provide water; some even had large reservoirs to use during [[siege]]s. Typically, a castro had one to five stone and earth walls, which complemented the natural defences of the hill. The buildings inside, most of them circular in shape, some rectangular, were about {{convert|3.5|-|15|m|abbr=on}} long; they were made out of stone with thatch roofs resting on a wood column in the centre of the building. In the major [[oppida]] there were regular streets, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in area from less than a hectare to some 50 hectare ones, and most were abandoned after the Roman conquest of the territory.

Many castros were already established during the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] period, pre-dating the [[Hallstatt culture]].

Many of the [[megalith]]s from the Bronze Age such as [[menhir]]s and [[dolmen]]s, which are frequently located near the castros, also pre-date the Celts in Portugal, [[Asturias]] and [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] as well as in Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland. These megaliths were probably reused in syncretic rituals by the Celtic [[Druid]]s.

The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] people occupied an inland region in central northern Spain, straddling the upper valleys of the [[Ebro]], [[Douro]] and [[Tajo]]. They built hillforts, fortified hilltop towns and [[oppida]], including [[Numantia]].

=== Migration Period Germany ===
During the [[Migration Period]] (300-600 CE), a large number of hilltop settlements were established both on Roman imperial territory and the lands of the [[Germanic peoples]]. However, the term embraces many very different settlements in high locations. Fortifications protected at least a few Germanic settlements. Unlike the Romans, however, the Germanii did not use mortar for their construction at that time. Among the best-known hill settlements in Germany are the [[Runder Berg]] near [[Bad Urach]] and the [[Gelbe Burg]] near [[Dittenheim]].

=== Sweden===
In Sweden, hillforts are fortifications from the Iron Age which may have had several functions. They are usually located on the crests of hills and mountains making use of precipices and marshes which worked as natural defences. The crests' more accessible parts were defended with walls of stone and outer walls in the slopes beneath are common. Round and closed, so-called ''[[ring fort]]s'' are common even on flat ground. The walls often have remaining parts of stone, which were probably the support of pales. They often have well delineated gateways, the gates of which were probably of wood. Hillforts with strong walls are often located beside old trade routes and have an offensive character, whereas others are reclusive and were weakly fortified, probably only for hiding during raids.

Many forts, located centrally in densely populated areas, were permanently settled strongholds and can show traces of settlements both inside and outside. Older place names containing the element ''sten''/''stein'' were usually hillforts.

In Sweden, there are 1,100 known hillforts with a strong concentration on the northern west coast and in eastern [[Svealand]]. In [[Södermanland]] there are 300, in [[Uppland]] 150, [[Östergötland]] 130, and 90 to 100 in each of [[Bohuslän]] and [[Gotland]].

===Norway===
Norway has about 400 hillforts.

===Denmark===
Denmark has 26 hillforts.

=== Finland ===
[[File:Unikonlinna 2.JPG|thumb|A ruins of the Unikonlinna hillfort in [[Janakkala]], Finland]]
The [[Finnish language|Finnish]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|fi|linnavuori}} (plural {{Lang|fi|linnavuoret}}), meaning ''fort hill'' or ''castle hill'', or alternatively ''{{Lang|fi|muinaislinna}}'' meaning ''ancient fort'', as opposed to bare ''{{Lang|fi|linna}}'' which refers to medieval or later fortifications.

One special feature about the Finnish hillforts that while most of them are located these days within some distance from the sea, but earlier many of the forts were located by the sea, due to [[post-glacial rebound]].

Finland has around 100 hillforts verified by excavations, and about 200 more suspected sites. The largest hillfort in Finland is the [[Rapola Castle]], other notable are the [[Old Castle of Lieto]] and the Sulkava hillfort.

=== Estonia ===
[[File:VarbolaRuins.jpg|thumb|Varbola hillfort ruins in Estonia]]

The [[Estonian language|Estonian]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|et|linnamägi}} (plural {{Lang|et|linnamäed}}), meaning ''hillfort'' or ''hillburgh''. There are several hundred hillforts or presumed ancient hillfort sites all over Estonia. Some of them, like [[Toompea]] in Tallinn or [[Tartu|Toomemägi]] in Tartu, are governance centres used since ancient times up until today. Some others, like [[Varbola Stronghold|Varbola]] are historical sites nowadays.

Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of [[Ancient Estonia|Estonian tribes]]. Although some of them were probably used only during times of crisis and stood empty in peacetime (for example Soontagana in Koonga parish, [[Pärnu county]]).

{{ill|List of Estonian fortresses|et|Eesti linnuste loend}} contains a common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts.

=== Latvia ===
{{Main article|List of hillforts in Latvia}}
[[File:2010 09 04 7Tervete37.JPG|thumb|Tērvete hillfort. Main [[Semigallians|Semigallian]] centre in the late Iron Age]]
The Latvian word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|lv|pilskalns}} (plural: {{Lang|lv|pilskalni}}), from ''{{Lang|lv|pils}}'' (castle) and ''{{Lang|lv|kalns}}'' (hill).

Hillforts in [[Latvia]] offered not only military and administrative functions but they were also cultural and economic centres of some regions. Latvian hillforts generally were a part of a complex consisting of the main fortress, the settlement around it, one or more burial fields and nearby ritual sites. The first hillforts in Latvia, such as Daugmale hillfort, appeared during the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lnvm.lv/en/?page_id=863|title=Ancient History of Latvia (11 000 BC – 1200) ← National History Museum of Latvia}}</ref> Some were continuously inhabited until the late [[Iron Age]].<ref name=Bielenstein>{{harvnb|Bielenstein|1869}}</ref><ref name=Moora>{{harvnb|Moora|1929}}</ref>

During the Roman Iron Age, some of the Latvian hillforts (like [[Ķivutkalns]]) were abandoned or became sparsely populated. A new period in hillfort development started during the 5th–8th centuries AD, when many new hillforts appeared, in most cases, along the main trades routes—rivers. During the 10th–11th centuries, some of the hillforts became military fortresses with strong fortifications (like hillforts in [[Tērvete]], [[Talsi]], [[Mežotne]]). Some of them are considered important political centres of the local peoples, who in this period were subjects of serious social political changes. That period was known for unrest and military activities, as well as power struggles between local aristocracy. Most of the Latvian hillforts were destroyed or abandoned during the [[Livonian Crusade]] in the 13th century, but some were still used in the 14th century. In total, there are about 470 hillforts in Latvia.<ref name=Bielenstein/><ref name=Moora/>

*[https://www.latvijas-pilskalni.lv Iron Age hillforts in Latvia]

=== Lithuania ===
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Piliakalniai.jpg|thumb|[[Kernavė Mounds]] complex, [[Kernavė]], part of a [[World Heritage Site]]]]
[[File:Daubariu piliakanis d1.jpg|thumb|[[Daubariai Hillforts]] in [[Mažeikiai district municipality]]]]
{{see also|List of hillforts in Lithuania}}
The [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|lt|piliakalnis}} (plural {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}}), from ''{{Lang|lt|pilis}}'' (=castle) and ''{{Lang|lt|kalnas}}'' (=mountain, hill).

[[Lithuania]] has hillforts dating from the [[Bronze Age]] in the 1st millennium BC. The earliest examples in present-day Lithuania are found in the east of the country. Most of these forts were built or expanded between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, when they were used in the Dukes' Wars, and against the invasion of [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knights]] from the west. Most forts were located on the banks of a river, or a confluence where two rivers met. These fortifications were typically wooden, although some had additional stone or brick walls. The hill was usually sculpted for defensive purposes, with the top flattened and the natural slopes made steeper for defence.

During the early years of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}} played a major role in conflicts with the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword|Livonian Order]] and the [[Teutonic Knights]]. During this period the number of ''piliakalniai'' in use decreased, but those that remained had stronger fortifications. Two main defence lines developed: one along the [[Neman River]] (against the Teutonic Order) and another along the border with [[Livonia]]. Two other lines started to form, but did not fully develop. One was to protect [[Vilnius]], the capital, and the other line in [[Samogitia]], was a major target for both orders. This territory separated the two Orders and prevented joint action between them and Pagan Lithuania.

{{As of|2017}}, according to the ''Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts'', there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as ''{{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}}''.<ref>''Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas'', Vol. 4, 2017, [http://lad.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Atlaso_Ivadas.pdf Introduction]</ref>  Most {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}} are located near rivers and are endangered by erosion: many have partly [[Collapse (structural)|collapsed]] as the flooded river has washed out the base of the hill. Now around 80 percent of ''piliakalniai'' are covered by forests and are hardly accessible to visitors.

*[https://www.piliakalniai.lt/ Map of hillforts in Lithuania]

=== Gords in Eastern Europe ===
[[File:Kostolec-hradisko.jpg|thumb|Hradisko [[Kostolec]], [[Piešťany]] ([[Slovakia]])]]
{{main article|Gord (archaeology)}}
In [[Russia]], [[Belarus]], [[Poland]] and [[Ukraine]], Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called ''[[Gord (archaeology)|gords]]'' or ''hords''. They were the residence of local rulers, and provided for refuge in times of war.

==Hillforts elsewhere in the world==
Similar structures can be found elsewhere in the world, such as the [[Hill Forts of Rajasthan]].

===Philippines===
{{Main|Ijang}}

In the [[Philippines]], the [[Ivatan people]] of the [[Batanes Islands]] built ''[[ijang]]''—fortified villages on top of natural hills and raised landforms near the coastlines. These were terraced into defensive ramparts with limited access points. Artifacts recovered from an ijang on the town of Savidug in [[Sabtang]] has been dated to around 1200 CE.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last1=Bellwood|first1=Peter|title=The Batanes Islands, Their First Observers, and Previous Archaeology|date=2013|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgz91.6|work=4000 Years of Migration and Cultural Exchange|volume=40|pages=1–8|editor-last=Bellwood|editor-first=Peter|series=The Archaeology of the Batanes Islands, Northern Philippines|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-925021-27-1|access-date=2021-01-25|last2=Dizon|first2=Eusebio|jstor=j.ctt5hgz91.6|editor2-last=Dizon|editor2-first=Eusebio}}</ref> These high rocky formations served as a refuge against attacking enemies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Dizon|first1=Eusebio Z.|last2=Santiago|first2=Rey A.|date=1996|title=Archaeological Explorations in Batanes Province|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42634196|journal=Philippine Studies|volume=44|issue=4|pages=479–499|jstor=42634196|issn=0031-7837}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dizon|first=Eusebio|date=1997|title=Archaeology of Batanes Province, Northern Philippines: The 1996-1997 Status Report.|url=https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/11730/10359|journal=|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> Ijang were first described by the English freebooter Captain [[William Dampier]] when he visited the island of [[Ivuhos]] in 1687. During the [[History of the Philippines (1565–1898)|Spanish colonial era]], ijang were abandoned during the ''[[Reductions|Reducciones]]'' as the Ivatan population were moved into centralized towns in the lowlands.<ref name="Howard T. Fry 1985, pp.3-21">{{Cite journal |last=Fry |first=Howard T. |date=1985 |title=The Eastern Passage and Its Impact on Spanish Policy in the Philippines, 1758–1790 |url=http://www.philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/view/1266/3922 |journal=Philippine Studies |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=3–21 |jstor=42632762}}, p.18.</ref>

===New Zealand===
{{Main|Pā}}
[[File:Model Of Maori Pa On Headland.jpg|thumb|right|Model of a [[Māori people|Māori]] [[pā]] on a [[headland]], showing the stepped nature and the wood [[palisade]]s]]
Among the [[Māori people]], villages called [[pā]] were often built on raised ground, like volcanic hills, headlands, and small islands (including [[artificial island]]s). The slopes were terraced into defensive ramparts that were usually further protected by [[palisade]]s. Traditional pā took a variety of designs, ranging from a simple terraced hill, to complex fortified structures that include multiple rows of palisades and underground defensive and ambush points. Māori pā differed from European hillforts in that they also prominently incorporate food [[storage pit (archaeology)|storage pits]] and often, water sources.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = King | first1 = Michael | author-link1 = Michael King (historian) | year = 2003 | chapter = First Colonisation | title = The Penguin History of New Zealand | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9_GcDwAAQBAJ | edition = reprint | publisher = Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited | publication-date = 2003 | isbn = 9781742288260 | access-date = 18 September 2020 }}</ref><ref name="FureyMatakawau">{{cite Q|Q104815050}}</ref> They survived until the colonial era and later types of pā were designed specifically for fighting with guns.<ref name="Cowan74">{{cite web |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-c9.html |title=The Capture of Rua-pekapeka |last1=Cowan |first1=James |year=1955 |page=74 |work=The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period: Volume I (1845–64) |publisher=R.E. Owen, Wellington |access-date=11 November 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Amba (geology)]], Ethiopian flat-topped mountain formations often used as defensive fortifications.
* [[Broch]]
* [[Chashi]]
* [[Nuraghe]]
* [[Oppidum]]
* [[Prehistoric warfare]]
* [[Promontory fort]]
* [[Acropolis]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |last=Alcock |first=Leslie |title="By South Cadbury Is That Camelot...": Excavations at Cadbury Castle 1966–70 |year=1972 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |isbn=0-8128-1505-X |url=https://archive.org/details/wasthiscamelotex00alco}}
*{{citation |last=Avery |first=Michael |date=October 1986 |title='Stoning and Fire' at Hillfort Entrances of Southern Britain |journal=World Archaeology |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=216–230 |jstor=124616 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1986.9979999}}
*{{citation |last=Ayán Vila |first=Xurxo |url=http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_19/ayan_6_19.pdf |title=A Round Iron Age: The Circular House in the Hillforts of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=6 |pages=903–1,003 |publisher=UW-Milwaukee Center for Celtic Studies |year=2008 |issn=1540-4889 |access-date=25 October 2010 |archive-date=24 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624081026/http://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_19/ayan_6_19.pdf |url-status=dead}}
*{{citation |last=Barrett |first=John |title=Cadbury Castle, Somerset: The later prehistoric and early historic archaeology |year=2000 |publisher=English Heritage |location=London |isbn=1-85074-716-4}}
*{{citation |last=Bielenstein |first=August |author-link=August Bielenstein |title=Die altlettischen Burgberge Kurlands |year=1869 |location=Riga}}
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.48.7 | issue=48 | title=Hillforts and Defended Enclosures of the Welsh Borderland | year=2018 | journal=[[Internet Archaeology]] | last1 = Britnell | first1 = Bill | last2 = Silvester | first2 = Bob | doi-access=free}}
*{{citation |last=Collis |first=John |title=Why do we still dig Iron Age ramparts? |year=2010 |journal=Collection Bibracte |volume=19|pages=27–36 |isbn=978-2-909668-64-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224054334/http://www.hillfortsstudygroup.org.uk/2010%20Celticus%20Bibracte19.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2012 |url=http://www.hillfortsstudygroup.org.uk/2010%20Celticus%20Bibracte19.pdf}}
*{{citation |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=The Ancient Celts |year=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-025422-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientcelts00cunl_0 }}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.48.9 | issue=48 | title=New Perspectives on the Architecture and Function of Welsh Hillforts and Defended Settlements | year=2018 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Driver | first1 = Toby | doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.48.3 | issue=48 | title=Historical Excavation and Survey of Hillforts in Wales: some critical issues | year=2018 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Guilbert | first1 = Graeme | doi-access=free}}
*{{citation |last1=Hill |first1=David |last2=Jesson |first2=Margaret (eds) |title=The Iron Age and its hill-forts: papers presented to Sir Mortimer Wheeler on the occasion of his eightieth year, at a conference held by the Southampton University Archaeological Society, 5th–7th March, 1971 |year=1971 |publisher=Southampton University Archaeological Society}}
*{{citation |editor-last1=Lock |editor-first1=Gary |editor-last2=Ralston |editor-first2=Ian |title=Hillforts: Britain, Ireland and the Nearer Continent: Papers from the Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland Conference, June 2017 |location=Oxford |publisher=Archaeopress |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-78969-227-3}}
*{{citation |last=Ralston |first=Ian |title=Celtic Fortifications |year=2006 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=0-7524-2500-5}}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.48.6 | issue=48 | title=Hillforts and Hut Groups of North-West Wales | year=2018 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Smith | first1 = George | doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.52.6 | issue=52 | title=Breedon Hill, Leicestershire: new surveys and their implications | year=2019 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Whittaker | first1 = Chris | doi-access=free}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Hill forts}}
{{scholia|topic}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170606174109/http://www.hillfortsstudygroup.org.uk/index.html The Hillfort Study Group] (archived)
*[https://hillforts.eu Open data resources on hillforts and ancient sites]

{{Hillforts}}
{{Fortifications}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hillforts| ]]
[[Category:Bronze Age Europe]]
[[Category:Archaeology in Europe]]
[[Category:Ancient warfare]]
[[Category:Iron Age Europe]]
[[Category:Types of monuments and memorials]]