Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
Mai Dun
Iron Age (600 BCE–43 CE)·Durotriges·🇬🇧 England, Dorset, near Dorchester, United Kingdom
About
About Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
Dorset's type-site excavated by Wheeler 1934–37, war cemetery 52 burials from Vespasian's 43 CE siege, Neolithic causewayed enclosure underlying. Recorded context — Period: Iron Age (600 BCE–43 CE); Culture: Durotriges; Field status: excavated; Materials: chalk, chalk rubble, timber palisade; Condition: preserved — earthworks.
Why it mattersKey Durotriges earthwork with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of enclosure
- 02Chronology and phasing
Theories
- 01Territorial marker
- 02Ceremonial centre
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 600 BCE initial hillfort; 450 BCE multivallate expansion
- Period
- Iron Age (600 BCE–43 CE)
- Culture
- Durotriges
- Purpose
- Largest hillfort in Britain — 47-acre multivallate defence and tribal capital
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1864
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 600 BCE initial hillfort; 450 BCE multivallate expansion
Initial construction / first occupation at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
2005 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
On the ground
Structures & features
50.6950° N · 2.4710° W · 132 m · 3 mapped features
- Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Principal Rampartrampartrampart at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — subsidiary complex50.6954° N · 2.4710° W
- Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Northern Ditchditchditch at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — primary structure50.6954° N · 2.4711° W
- Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Southern Entranceentranceentrance at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — outlier feature50.6954° N · 2.4730° W
Gallery