Britain’s Biggest Hillfort… - Stanwick

Stanwick, in North Yorkshire, is the largest hillfort in Britain and one of the most important Iron Age oppida (settlements) in Europe. Enclosing nearly 300 hectares with over nine kilometres of ramparts, it was the political centre of the Brigantes, once the most powerful Celtic tribe in ancient Britain.

Archaeology at Stanwick has revealed Celtic and Roman imports, fine Iron Age metalwork, evidence of salt production and trade, and monumental fortifications that rival Maiden Castle. This extraordinary site shows the scale, wealth, and power of Celtic Britain on the eve of the Roman conquest of Britain. It also reveals a quite dark world...

SOURCES
Wheeler, R.E.M. (1954) The Stanwick Fortifications, North Riding of Yorkshire. Oxford: Society of Antiquaries of London.

MacGregor, M. (1962) ‘The Early Iron Age Metalwork Hoard from Stanwick, N.R. Yorks’, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 28, pp. 17–57.

Haselgrove, C.C., Turnbull, P. and Fitts, R.L. (1990) ‘Stanwick, North Yorkshire, Part 1: Recent research and previous archaeological investigations’, Archaeological Journal, 147(1), pp. 1–15.

Welfare, H., Topping, P., Blood, K. and Ramm, H. (1990) ‘Stanwick, North Yorkshire, Part 2: A summary description of the earthworks’, Archaeological Journal, 147(1), pp. 16–36.

Haselgrove, C.C., Lowther, P.C. and Turnbull, P. (1990) ‘Stanwick, North Yorkshire, Part 3: Excavations on earthworks sites 1981–86’, Archaeological Journal, 147(1), pp. 37–90.

Haselgrove, C. (ed.) (2016) Cartimandua’s Capital?: The Late Iron Age Royal Site at Stanwick, North Yorkshire, Fieldwork and Analysis 1981–2011. York: Council for British Archaeology.

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