Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
Mai Dun
Iron Age (600 BCE–43 CE)·Durotriges·🇬🇧 England, Dorset, near Dorchester, United Kingdom
About
About Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
Dorset's type-site excavated by Wheeler 1934–37, war cemetery 52 burials from Vespasian's 43 CE siege, Neolithic causewayed enclosure underlying.
Why it mattersKey Durotriges earthwork with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of enclosure
- 02Chronology and phasing
Theories
- 01Territorial marker
- 02Ceremonial centre
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 600 BCE initial hillfort; 450 BCE multivallate expansion
- Period
- Iron Age (600 BCE–43 CE)
- Culture
- Durotriges
- Purpose
- Largest hillfort in Britain — 47-acre multivallate defence and tribal capital
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1864
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 600 BCE initial hillfort; 450 BCE multivallate expansion
Initial construction / first occupation at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
2005 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector
On the ground
Structures & features
50.6950° N · 2.4710° W · 132 m · 3 mapped features
Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Principal Rampart
rampartrampart at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — subsidiary complex
50.6954° N · 2.4710° WMaiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Northern Ditch
ditchditch at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — primary structure
50.6954° N · 2.4711° WMaiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — Southern Entrance
entranceentrance at Maiden Castle Dorset — Western Rampart Sector — outlier feature
50.6954° N · 2.4730° W