A fortified settlement is a dwelling, village or urban settlement in prehistory (or history for that matter) that has defensive structures such as moats, enclosures or ramparts.
Fortified settlements are found throughout the world beginning during the Neolithic period of about 6,000 years ago, at sites such as Podgoritsa in Bulgaria and Berry au Bac in France.
A boom in fortified settlement construction happened in Europe beginning at the end of the Late Bronze and early Iron Age, when many many fortified settlements were built on top of hills. Archaeologists classify the Iron Age sites "hill forts".
Why are There Fortified Settlements?
The reasons for fortification are simply, for defense against an enemy, perceived or real. There are several main underlying causes that archaeologists believe create the need for defensive structures.
- Growth in the local population within an area causing stress on resources
- Inter-regional trade and other forces may have created status differences with a wealthy minority
- Climate change, creating additional stress on resources within a community.
- Warfare and raiding by outsiders
- Disease
A fortified settlement is evidence of troubled times, whether the walls and moats reflect full-out war, raiding, disease or climate change, or simply the residents' unease.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to Site Types in Archaeology and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Alvarez-Anchis, Jesus R. 2000 The Iron Age in western Spain (800 BC-AD 50): An overview. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 19(1):65-89.
Esquivel, José A. and Elena Navas 2007 Geometric architectural pattern and constructive energy analysis at Los Millares Copper Age Settlement (Santa Fé de Mondújar, Almería, Andalusia). Journal of Archaeological Science 34:894-904.
Field, Julie S. 2005 Land tenure, competition in Fijian prehistory. Antiquity 79:586-600.
Henneberg, Maciej and Janus Ostoja-Zagórski 1984 Use of a General Ecological Model for the Reconstruction of Prehistoric Economy: The Hallstatt Period Culture of Northwestern Poland. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 3:41-78.
Sastre, Ines 2008 Community, Identity, and Conflict: Iron Age Warfare in the Iberian Northwest. Current Anthropology 49(6):1021-1051
Smith, Adam T., Ruben Badalyan, Pavel Avetisyan, and Mkrtich Zardaryan 2004 Early Complex Societies in Southern Caucasia: A Preliminary Report on the 2002 Investigations by Project ArAGATS on the Tsakahovit Plain, Republic of Armenia. American Journal of Archaeology 108(1):1-41.
Torres-Rouff, Christina and María A. Costa Junqueira 2006 Interpersonal Violence in Prehistoric San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: Behavioral Implications of Environmental Stress. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 130:60-70.
