Bindon Hill
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Bindon Hill is an extensive Iron Age earthwork enclosing a coastal area near Lulworth Cove in Dorset, England.
The main rampart and external ditch (univallate) run for over 2 km along an east-west ridge parallel to the coast, which lies about 750 m to the south. The ridge rises to 168 m and the cliffs are 30-120 m high. At the western end, an incomplete series of ramparts curve back to the cliffs of Lulworth Cove. At the eastern end, the main rampart reaches the cliffs on the north side of Mupe Bay. The total enclosed area is about 110 ha.
The enormous enclosed area, lack of evidence of settlement in the interior, and the impossibility of effectively defending such a large perimeter, all suggest it was primarily an enclosed pasture for domesticated animals, not a strategic tribal hill fort.
[edit] References
- Iron Age Communities in Britain, Barry Cunliffe (1974) ISBN 978-0-7100-8725-6