Everything about Hambledon Hill totally explained
Hambledon Hill is a prehistoric
hill fort in
Dorset,
England, situated in the
Blackmore Vale five
miles north of
Blandford Forum. The hill is a
Chalk outcrop separated from the
Dorset Downs and
Cranborne Chase ridge by the
River Stour.
Its earliest occupation was in the
Neolithic when a pair of
causewayed enclosures were dug at the top of the
hill, one smaller than the other. They were linked by a bank and ditch running north west- south east. Two
long barrows, one 68
m in length, also stood within the complex and a third enclosure is now known to underlie later earthworks. In all, the area of activity covered more than 1 km². Excavations in the
1970s and
1980s by
Roger Mercer produced large quantities of Neolithic material. Environmental analysis indicated the site was occupied whilst the area was still wooded with forest clearances coming later, in the
Bronze Age. The
charcoal recovered seems to have come from
timber lacing within the Neolithic earthworks.
Radiocarbon analysis gives a date of
2850 BC. At least one
skeleton, of a young man killed by an
arrow was found, seemingly connected with the burning of the timber defences and suggesting at least one phase of violence. A single
grape pip and a
leaf fragment is evidence of
vine cultivation and the occupants seem to have traded with sites further to the south west.
The ditches of the enclosures also contained significant quantities of pottery as well as
red deer antler picks used to excavate them. Human skulls had been placed right at the bottom of one of the enclosure ditches possibly as a dedicatory or ancestral offering. Animal bone analysis suggests that most of the meat was consumed in late summer and early autumn, possibly indicating seasonal use of the site. Different material was found in different areas of the site suggesting that Hambledon Hill was divided up into zones of activity. The original interpretation was that the large causewayed enclosure was used as a
mortuary enclosure for the
ritual disposal of the dead and veneration of the ancestors with attendant feasting and social contact taking place in the smaller enclosure.
Little remains of the Neolithic activity and the site is more easily identified as a prime example of an
Iron age hill fort. It was originally univallate but further circuits of banks and ditches were added increasing its size to 125,000 m². Three entrances served the fort, the south western with a 100 m long hornwork surrounding it. Hut platforms can be seen on the hillside. The site appears to have been abandoned around 300 BC possibly in favour of the nearby site of
Hod Hill.
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