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The Prehistoric Hinterland of Maiden Castle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Extract

Maiden Castle, situated 3km south-west of the centre of Dorchester, Dorset, is probably the best known Iron Age hillfort in Britain. Excavations by Sir Mortimer Wheeler were published by the Society of Antiquaries in 1943, and although he may have considered this report as incomplete his vivid interpretations caught the public imagination so that the results have found their way into archaeological texts and children's history books alike. The vast number of well preserved monuments close to Maiden Castle are also well known and have been carefully catalogued (RCHM 1970; Woodward 1991). However, the many excavations undertaken by the Trust for Wessex Archaeology in the area since 1984 have revealed an unprecedented variety of sites which allows a comprehensive picture of prehistoric land use to be created, placing Maiden Castle in a uniquely researched archaeological context (fig. 1).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1990

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References

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