The Late Bronze Age (c 1250–750 bc) was a critical period of change in later British prehistory. For the first time, defended hilltop enclosures are evident in the archaeological record, bridging the relative stability of the farming life of the Middle Bronze Age with the creation of new massively defended communal monuments – hillforts – of the Iron Age. Changes in settlement practice are mirrored by other events during the first millennium bc, including in materials technology with the rise of iron, and in the changing nature of artefact deposition – particularly in the appearance of hoards of weaponry and other artefacts. These changes happened against the background of a climatic downturn, the impact of which on human societies has been a controversial topic for over four decades.
Lorrae Campbell’s book, the product of a recently completed PhD, concentrates on several key questions behind the coming together of communities in the Late Bronze Age to build monumental hilltop enclosures. The book focuses on the western Atlantic communities of Wales and the Marches and south-west England, but also integrates new data from Irish hilltop enclosures with their maritime links to the west. She acknowledges that the reasons why hilltop enclosures appeared are complex and multi-layered, with a variety of factors coming into play from the rapidly changing environmental background to attitudes around transhumance and land ownership, the movement of peoples, the interconnectivity of communities and marginality. Rather than focusing on any one strand, Campbell tackles each area of evidence in turn to evaluate the case for the rise in hilltop enclosures as a way of living.
In her Introduction, Campbell details her research questions and provides a useful summary of the history of the study of Late Bronze and Iron Age settlement archaeology from its beginnings to the present day, laying out key paradigms in archaeological thought and notable investigations. Usefully, the results of recent work in Ireland are also now available, giving a wealth of new dating and excavation evidence. Her methodology is clearly explained in Chapter 2, including tables of dating evidence used for each of her study sites; there are also comparative chronological tables for each radiocarbon-dated study site, both hilltop and non-hilltop sites, showing a span of dates within this ‘Late Bronze Age’ range from 1400 to 500 bc.
The central chapters present the core of the evidence and discussion. Chapter 3 examines climatic change in Late Bronze Age Britain, attempting to assess how and where the climatic downturn happened and to what extent it affected human communities and contributed to their desire to move or rebuild their permanent settlements. The span of the debate is discussed, from Colin Burgess’ original Reference Burgess1979 ‘Catastrophe?’ paper, to a gradual acceptance of the science and its effect on the settlement record. Yet debate still continues, with Campbell citing recent studies from Ireland that show a disconnect between a Bronze Age population decline beginning earlier than the climatic shift. In Chapter 4 the author ‘locates’ her study sites, looking not only at contour and topographic characteristics, but also the availability of water on the hilltops (a very detailed discussion, which will be useful to many), the enclosure of monuments from earlier periods and a discussion on the implications of shared locational and topographic characteristics among study sites – potentially indicating shared cultural identities in western Britain.
In Chapter 5 the author develops the discussion around settlement evidence, with an analysis of the data from excavated sites. There is useful essay on palisaded sites, and the development of early rampart technology, along with structural evidence for buildings behind the defences. There are good up to date sections here on metalworking, textile production and agriculture, each one supported by new site tables and thoroughly referenced summaries. Chapter 6 discusses inhabiting Late Bronze Age hilltop sites, introducing ceramic evidence, the key metalworking phases (Wilburton, Ewart Park, Llyn Fawr) and a discussion of excavated material culture, evidence for weaponry, tools and an in-depth analysis of ceramic assemblages. Comparatively recent finds, such as the spectacular South Cadbury Yetholm type shield, are introduced and illustrated along with better known finds.
The book closes with a thorough discussion and extensive bibliography. Campbell prefers a multi-faceted reasoning for the creation of these monuments, seeing hilltop sites bringing disparate communities together in the act of building and enclosure, creating a new sense of territory and belonging during ‘painful’ times of upheaval and change. The well-watered hilltops also created new, secure places for the gathering of herds of animals and a new pastoral economy – which brought with it new wealth. The debate on how, why and when communities decided to come together to live in enclosed hilltop settlements in the first millennium bc has long exercised archaeologists – and it will continue. This important study offers a fresh look at the problem, drawing together a range of field data into new tables, thus allowing it to be interrogated – in turn informing detailed thematic discussions that will underpin and advance the discussion on this topic for many years to come.
