Cleeve Toot
Encyclopedia
Cleeve Toot is an Iron Age
hillfort above Goblin Combe
, Cleeve
, Somerset
, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument
.
It is a roughly oval settlement which is approximately 125 metres (410.1 ft) in length by 90 metres (295.3 ft) in breadth. Approximately 150 metres (492.1 ft) to the north is another, smaller settlement. They are thought to have been a satellite community of nearby Cadbury Hill
Pits have been found at the site indicating the presence of round houses. There is a a single stone rampart with a broad shallow outer ditch. There is also a prehistoric or Roman field system.
. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe
believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hillfort above Goblin Combe
Goblin Combe
Goblin Combe is a valley in North Somerset which stretches from Redhill, near Bristol International Airport on the A38 through to Cleeve on the A370. The combe is located at , and is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest originally notified in 1999, with being managed as a nature...
, Cleeve
Cleeve, Somerset
Cleeve is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, south west of Bristol and has a population of 941 .-History:...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
.
It is a roughly oval settlement which is approximately 125 metres (410.1 ft) in length by 90 metres (295.3 ft) in breadth. Approximately 150 metres (492.1 ft) to the north is another, smaller settlement. They are thought to have been a satellite community of nearby Cadbury Hill
Cadbury Hill
Cadbury Hill is a small hill, mostly in the civil parish of Congresbury, overlooking the village of Yatton in North Somerset. On its summit stands an Iron Age hill fort, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.-Background:...
Pits have been found at the site indicating the presence of round houses. There is a a single stone rampart with a broad shallow outer ditch. There is also a prehistoric or Roman field system.
Background
Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC1st millennium BC
The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of many successive empires, and spanned from 1000 BC to 1 BC.The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The...
. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe
Barry Cunliffe
Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, CBE, known professionally as Barry Cunliffe is a former Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford, a position held from 1972 to 2007...
believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".