King's Castle is an Iron Age hillfort located 1 kilometre east of Wiveliscombe in Somerset, England. The site is surrounded by two banks with a ditch between them. The inner wall ranges up to 2.5 metres in height and the outer wall reaches up to 1.5 metres.
Arrowheads, scrapers, and borers from as far back as the Neolithic period have been found at the site. A coin hoard of 1139 coins was also discovered in a pot buried 0.30 metres deep. While the site has been heavily damaged by repeated quarrying and ploughing, these artifacts provide a glimpse into its long history.
Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. Their purpose is a subject of debate - they may have been military sites constructed in response to invasion, built by invaders, or a reaction to social tensions caused by population growth and pressure on agriculture. The shift toward iron use led to new trading patterns and a shift in social power.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.