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127-635: Tiryns was a hill fort with occupation ranging back seven thousand years, from before the beginning of the Bronze Age . It reached its height of importance between 1400 and 1200 BC, when it became one of the most important centers of the Mycenaean world, and in particular in Argolis . Its most notable features were its palace, its Cyclopean tunnels and especially its walls, which gave the city its Homeric epithet of "mighty walled Tiryns". Tiryns became associated with

254-486: A castro is a fortified pre- Roman Iron Age village, usually located on a hill or some naturally easy defendable place. The larger hillforts are also called citanias , cividades or cidás (English: cities ). They were located on hilltops, which allowed tactical control over the surrounding countryside and provided natural defences. They usually had access to a spring or small creek to provide water; some even had large reservoirs to use during sieges . Typically,

381-453: A castro had one to five stone and earth walls, which complemented the natural defences of the hill. The buildings inside, most of them circular in shape, some rectangular, were about 3.5–15 m (11–49 ft) long; they were made out of stone with thatch roofs resting on a wood column in the centre of the building. In the major oppida there were regular streets, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in area from less than

508-447: A common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts. The Latvian word for hillfort is pilskalns (plural: pilskalni ), from pils (castle) and kalns (hill). Hillforts in Latvia offered not only military and administrative functions but they were also cultural and economic centres of some regions. Latvian hillforts generally were a part of a complex consisting of

635-512: A destroyed palace or central structure, a change in location of living quarters and burial sites demonstrates a significant recession. Furthermore, the increase in fortification at this site suggests much fear of the decline in Athens. Vincent Desborough asserts that this is evidence of later migrations away from the city in reaction to its initial decline, although a significant population did remain. It remains possible that this emigration from Athens

762-547: A fortress, after a near defeat at the Battle of Kadesh . During the reign of Merneptah , the Shasu threatened the " Way of Horus " north from Gaza. Evidence shows that Deir Alla ( Succoth ) was destroyed, likely by an earthquake, after the reign of Queen Twosret (r. 1191–1189 BC) though the date of this destruction appears to be much later dating to roughly 1150 BC. There is little evidence that any major city or settlement in

889-488: A glorious past to compete with the other two cities. The area has been inhabited since prehistory . A small neolithic settlement thrived. In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, it was a flourishing early pre-Hellenic settlement located about 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Mycenae , on a hill 300 m (980 ft) long, 45–100 m (148–328 ft) wide, and no more than 18 m (59 ft) high. From this period, an imposing circular structure survived under

1016-889: A hectare to some 50 hectare ones, and most were abandoned after the Roman conquest of the territory. Many castros were already established during the Atlantic Bronze Age period, pre-dating the Hallstatt culture . Many of the megaliths from the Bronze Age such as menhirs and dolmens , which are frequently located near the castros, also pre-date the Celts in Portugal, Asturias and Galicia as well as in Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland. These megaliths were probably reused in syncretic rituals by

1143-457: A king rejoicing in slaughter. My reign is calmed in peace." With this claim, Ramesses implied that his reign was safe in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse. Egypt's withdrawal from the southern Levant was a protracted process lasting some one hundred years and was most likely a product of the political turmoil in Egypt proper. Many Egyptian garrisons or sites with an "Egyptian governor's residence" in

1270-472: A major depopulation. Again, as with many of the sites of destruction in Greece, it is unclear how a lot of this destruction came about. The city of Mycenae for example was initially destroyed in an earthquake in 1250 BC as evidenced by the presence of crushed bodies buried in collapsed buildings. However, the site was rebuilt only to face destruction in 1190 BC as the result of a series of major fires. There

1397-490: A population of 15,000 people. Along with the nearby ruins of Mycenae , UNESCO designated Tiryns as a World Heritage Site in 1999 because of its outstanding architecture and testimony to the development of Ancient Greek civilization. Tiryns is first referenced by Homer , who praised its massive walls. Ancient tradition held that the walls were built by the Cyclopes because only giants of superhuman strength could have lifted

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1524-917: A refuge against attacking enemies. Ijang were first described by the English freebooter Captain William Dampier when he visited the island of Ivuhos in 1687. During the Spanish colonial era , ijang were abandoned during the Reducciones as the Ivatan population were moved into centralized towns in the lowlands. Among the Māori people , villages called pā were often built on raised ground, like volcanic hills, headlands, and small islands (including artificial islands ). The slopes were terraced into defensive ramparts that were usually further protected by palisades . Traditional pā took

1651-404: 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

1778-473: A stone wall or earthen rampart or both. These would have been important tribal centres where the chief or king of the area would live with his extended family and support themselves by farming and renting cattle to their underlings. There are around 40 known hillforts in Ireland. About 12 are multivallate as distinguished by multiple ramparts, or a large counterscarp (outer bank). The imposing example at Mooghaun

1905-472: A triangular roof, which served as a refuge for the inhabitants of the lower city in times of danger. The entrance of the citadel was always on the east side, but had a different position and form in each of the three construction phases. In the second phase, the gate had the form of the Lion Gate of Mycenae . Left there was a tower and to the right was the arm of the wall, so the gate was well protected, since

2032-487: A variety of designs, ranging from a simple terraced hill, to complex fortified structures that include multiple rows of palisades and underground defensive and ambush points. Māori pā differed from European hillforts in that they also prominently incorporate food storage pits and often, water sources. They survived until the colonial era and later types of pā were designed specifically for fighting with guns. Late Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse

2159-905: Is linnamägi (plural linnamäed ), meaning hillfort or hillburgh . There are several hundred hillforts or presumed ancient hillfort sites all over Estonia. Some of them, like Toompea in Tallinn or Toomemägi in Tartu, are governance centres used since ancient times up until today. Some others, like Varbola are historical sites nowadays. Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of Estonian tribes . Although some of them were probably used only during times of crisis and stood empty in peacetime (for example Soontagana in Koonga parish, Pärnu county ). List of Estonian fortresses  [ et ] contains

2286-425: Is a suggestion by Robert Drews that the fires could have been the result of an attack on the site and its palace; however, Eric Cline points out the lack of archaeological evidence for an attack. Thus, while fire was definitely the cause of the destruction, it is unclear what or who caused it. A similar situation occurred Tiryns in 1200 BC, when an earthquake destroyed much of the city including its palace. It

2413-401: Is certain that the area of the palace was inhabited continuously into the early Archaic period , until the middle of the 8th century BC (a little later a temple was built in the ruins of the palace). In the post-palatial LH IIIC period ( c.  1180 BC ), an extensive deposit of precious items, including gold and silver objects and a fifteenth-century BC Minoan signet ring ,

2540-509: Is clear evidence that Ugarit was destroyed in some kind of assault, though the exact assailant is not known. In one residential area called the Ville sud, thirty two arrowheads were found scattered throughout the area while twelve of the arrowheads were found on the streets and in the open spaces. Along with the arrowheads, two lance heads, four javelin heads, five bronze daggers, one bronze sword, and three bronze pieces of armor were scattered throughout

2667-402: Is defended by multiple stone walls. One must be careful to not confuse a hill-fort with a ' ringfort '—a medieval settlement—a common archaeological feature across the whole island of Ireland, of which over 40,000 examples are known; one source claims there may be 10,000 undiscovered ringforts. In Galicia , Asturias , Cantabria , Basque Country , province of Ávila and Northern Portugal

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2794-463: Is first concentrated in a centralized bureaucracy before being redistributed according to the sovereign's agenda, a system which primarily benefits the society's elite. This intricate web of dependencies, coupled with the inflexibility of the palace system, exposed these civilizations to the cascading effects of distant disturbances. Many Anatolian sites were destroyed at the Late Bronze Age, and

2921-481: Is highlighted by Robert Drews, who reasons that the destruction was such that Thebes did not resume a significant position in Greece until at least the late 12th century BC. Many other sites offer less conclusive causes; for example it is unclear what happened at Athens, although it is clear that the settlement saw a significant decline during the Bronze Age Collapse. While there is no evidence of remnants of

3048-430: Is likely however that the city continued to be inhabited for some time following the earthquake. As a result, there is a general agreement that earthquakes did not permanently destroy Mycenae or Tiryns because, as is highlighted by Guy Middleton, "Physical destruction then cannot fully explain the collapse". Drews points out that there was continued occupation at these sites, accompanied by attempts to rebuild, demonstrating

3175-550: Is only possible that the palace in Area AA might have been destroyed though this is not certain. While the monumental structures at Hazor were indeed destroyed, this destruction was in the mid-13th century long before the end of the Late Bronze Age began. However, many sites were not burned to the ground around 1200 BC including: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Tell es-Safi, Tel Batash, Tel Burna, Tel Dor, Tel Gerisa, Tell Jemmeh, Khirbet Rabud, Tel Zeror, and Tell Abu Hawam among others. During

3302-478: Is the largest amongst forts reoccupied following the end of Roman rule , to defend against pirate raids, and the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The cemetery outside Poundbury Hill contains east-facing Christian burials of the 4th century CE. In Wales, the hillfort at Dinas Powys was a late Iron Age hillfort reoccupied from the 5th-6th centuries CE; similarly at Castell Dinas Brân a hillfort of c.  600 BCE

3429-524: Is today northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, the fringes of northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. It still retained a stable monarchy, the best army in the world, and an efficient civil administration, enabling it to survive the Bronze Age Collapse intact. Assyrian written records remained numerous and the most consistent in the world during the period, and the Assyrians were still able to mount long range military campaigns in all directions when necessary. From

3556-792: The Akkadian Empire and the Northwest Semitic -speaking Amorites ("Amurru") and the people of Ugarit were prominent among them. Syria during this time was known as "The land of the Amurru". Before and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Syria became a battleground between the Hittites, the Middle Assyrian Empire, the Mitanni and the New Kingdom of Egypt between the 15th and late 13th centuries BC, with

3683-554: The Bronze Age in the 1st millennium BC. The earliest examples in present-day Lithuania are found in the east of the country. Most of these forts were built or expanded between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, when they were used in the Dukes' Wars, and against the invasion of Teutonic Knights from the west. Most forts were located on the banks of a river, or a confluence where two rivers met. These fortifications were typically wooden, although some had additional stone or brick walls. The hill

3810-674: The Hill Forts of Rajasthan . In the Philippines , the Ivatan people of the Batanes Islands built ijang —fortified villages on top of natural hills and raised landforms near the coastlines. These were terraced into defensive ramparts with limited access points. Artifacts recovered from an ijang on the town of Savidug in Sabtang has been dated to around 1200 CE. These high rocky formations served as

3937-768: The Hittite Empire and eclipsed the Egyptian Empire . At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age collapse, it controlled an empire stretching from the Caucasus Mountains in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south, and from Ancient Iran in the east to Cyprus in the west. However, in the 12th century BC, Assyrian satrapies in Anatolia came under attack from the Mushki (who may have been Phrygians ) and those in

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4064-751: The Levant collapsed, while states such as the Middle Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia and the New Kingdom of Egypt survived in weakened forms. Other cultures such as the Phoenicians enjoyed increased autonomy and power with the waning military presence of Egypt and Assyria in West Asia . Competing theories of the cause of the Late Bronze Age collapse have been proposed since the 19th century, with most involving

4191-653: The Mediterranean and Cyprus . The Arameans and Phrygians were subjugated, and Assyria and its colonies were not threatened by the Sea Peoples who had ravaged Egypt and much of the East Mediterranean, and the Assyrians often conquered as far as Phoenicia and the East Mediterranean . However, after the death of Ashur-bel-kala in 1056, Assyria withdrew to areas close to its natural borders, encompassing what

4318-874: The Neman River (against the Teutonic Order) and another along the border with Livonia . Two other lines started to form, but did not fully develop. One was to protect Vilnius , the capital, and the other line in Samogitia , was a major target for both orders. This territory separated the two Orders and prevented joint action between them and Pagan Lithuania. As of 2017 , according to the Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts , there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as piliakalniai . Most piliakalniai are located near rivers and are endangered by erosion: many have partly collapsed as

4445-703: The Tyrrhenians or Troas ), and a Canaanite revolt, in the cities of Ashkelon , Yenoam and among the people of Israel . A second attack ( Battle of the Delta and Battle of Djahy ) during the reign of Ramesses III (1186–1155) involved Peleset , Tjeker , Shardana and Denyen . The Nubian War, the First Libyan War, the Northern War and the Second Libyan War were all victories for Ramesses. Due to this, however,

4572-598: The 'Sea Peoples', but this is simply another way of saying that we do not know." Several settlements on Cyprus were abandoned at the end of the LC IIC or during the first half of the 12th century BC without destruction such as Pyla Kokkinokremmos , Toumba tou Skourou, Alassa, and Maroni-Vournes. In a trend which appears to go against much of the Eastern Mediterranean at this time, several areas of Cyprus, Kition and Paphos, appear to have flourished after 1200 BC during

4699-553: The 12th century BC, but they too were overcome by their Assyrian neighbors. The modern term "Syria" is a later Indo-European corruption of "Assyria", which only became formally applied to the Levant during the Seleucid Empire (323–150 BC) (see Etymology of Syria ). Levantine sites previously showed evidence of trade links with Mesopotamia ( Sumer , Akkad , Assyria and Babylonia ), Anatolia (Hattia, Hurria, Luwia and later

4826-533: The 12th century BC, the incoming Northwest Semitic -speaking Arameans came to demographic prominence in Syria, the region outside of the Canaanite-speaking Phoenician coastal areas eventually came to speak Aramaic and the region came to be known as Aramea and Eber Nari . The Babylonians belatedly attempted to gain a foothold in the region during their brief revival under Nebuchadnezzar I in

4953-479: The 5th–8th centuries AD, when many new hillforts appeared, in most cases, along the main trades routes—rivers. During the 10th–11th centuries, some of the hillforts became military fortresses with strong fortifications (like hillforts in Tērvete , Talsi , Mežotne ). Some of them are considered important political centres of the local peoples, who in this period were subjects of serious social political changes. That period

5080-432: The 60 "destructions" 31, or 52%, are false destructions. The complete list of false destructions includes other notable sites such as: Lefkandi, Orchomenos, Athens, Knossos, Alassa, Carchemish, Aleppo, Alalakh, Hama, Qatna, Kadesh, Tell Tweini, Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beth-Shean, Tell Dier Alla, and many more. Ann Killebrew has shown that cities such as Jerusalem were large and important walled settlements in

5207-475: The Argives, who in their political propaganda wanted to monopolize the glory of legendary (and mythical) ancestors. In 468 BC, Argos completely destroyed both Mycenae and Tiryns, and—according to Pausanias—transferred the residents to Argos, to increase the population of the city. However, Strabo says that many Tirynthians moved to found the city of Halieis, modern Porto Heli . Despite its importance, little value

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5334-519: The Assyrians destroying the Hurri-Mitanni empire and annexing much of the Hittite empire. The Egyptian empire had withdrawn from the region after failing to overcome the Hittites and being fearful of the ever-growing Assyrian might, leaving much of the region under Assyrian control until the late 11th century BC. Later the coastal regions came under attack from the Sea Peoples . During this period, from

5461-572: The Bronze Age Collapse, Chaldeans also) spread unchecked into Babylonia from the Levant, and the power of its weak kings barely extended beyond the city limits of Babylon. Babylon was sacked by the Elamites under Shutruk-Nahhunte (c. 1185–1155 BC), and lost control of the Diyala River valley to Assyria. Ancient Syria had been initially dominated by a number of indigenous Semitic -speaking peoples. The East Semitic -speaking polities of Ebla and

5588-560: The Bronze Age collapse, the Egyptian Empire of the New Kingdom era receded considerably in territorial and economic strength during the mid-twelfth century (during the reign of Ramesses VI , 1145 to 1137). Previously, the Merneptah Stele ( c.  1200 ) spoke of attacks (Libyan War) from Putrians (from modern Libya ), with associated people of Ekwesh , Shekelesh , Lukka , Shardana and Teresh (possibly an Egyptian name for

5715-547: The Caucasus Mountains. Initially, the Assyrian Empire maintained a presence in the area. However, it gradually withdrew from much of the region for a time in the second half of the 11th century. During the reign of the Hittite king Tudḫaliya IV (reigned c. 1237–1209 BC), the island was briefly invaded by the Hittites, either to secure the copper resource or as a way of preventing piracy . Shortly afterwards,

5842-533: The Celtic Druids . The Celtiberian people occupied an inland region in central northern Spain, straddling the upper valleys of the Ebro , Douro and Tajo . They built hillforts, fortified hilltop towns and oppida , including Numantia . During the period of Late Antiquity or Migration Period a large number of hilltop settlements were established both on the Roman imperial territory and on Germanic soil. However,

5969-646: The DAI in late 1916, and excavations at Tiryns thereafter ceased until the end of World War I in 1918. After World War II (1939–1945), the work was continued by the Institute and the Greek Archaeological Service. In particular, there were excavations in 1977, 1978/1979, and again in 1982/83. The walls extend to the entire area of the top of the hill. Their bases survive throughout all of their length, and their height in some places reaching 7 meters, slightly below

6096-704: The Finnish hillforts that while most of them are located these days within some distance from the sea, but earlier many of the forts were located by the sea, due to post-glacial rebound . Finland has around 100 hillforts verified by excavations, and about 200 more suspected sites. The largest hillfort in Finland is the Rapola Castle , other notable are the Old Castle of Lieto and the Sulkava hillfort. The Estonian word for hillfort

6223-405: The Hittites), Egypt and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age. Evidence at Ugarit shows that the destruction there occurred after the reign of Merneptah (r. 1213–1203 BC) and even the fall of Chancellor Bay (d. 1192 BC). The last Bronze Age king of Ugarit, Ammurapi , was a contemporary of the last-known Hittite king, Suppiluliuma II . The exact dates of his reign are unknown. A letter by

6350-440: The Iron Age were sometimes used for corralling animals in later periods. For example, see Coney's Castle , Dolebury Warren and Pilsdon Pen . However, it is difficult to prove that people definitely did not dwell there, as lack of evidence is not proof of absence. Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts are widely found in Ireland. They are large circular structures between 1 and 40 acres (most commonly 5–10 acres) in size, enclosed by

6477-443: The Iron Age which may have had several functions. They are usually located on the crests of hills and mountains making use of precipices and marshes which worked as natural defences. The crests' more accessible parts were defended with walls of stone and outer walls in the slopes beneath are common. Round and closed, so-called ring forts are common even on flat ground. The walls often have remaining parts of stone, which were probably

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6604-470: The LC IIIA rather than experiencing any sort of downturn. Destruction was heaviest at palaces and fortified sites, and none of the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age survived (with the possible exception of the Cyclopean fortifications on the Acropolis of Athens ). Thebes was one of the earliest examples of this, having its palace sacked repeatedly between 1300 and 1200 BC and eventually completely destroyed by fire. The extent of this destruction

6731-414: The Land of Hatti, and all my ships are in the Land of Lukka ? ... Thus, the country is abandoned to itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us. Eshuwara, the senior governor of Cyprus, responded in letter RS 20.18: As for the matter concerning those enemies: (it was) the people from your country (and) your own ships (who) did this! And (it was)

6858-439: The Late Bronze Age ( c.  1550 –1200 BC). Prominent societies (Egyptians, Hittites, Mesopotamians, and Mycenaeans) exhibited monumental architecture, advanced metallurgy, and literacy. Flourishing trade in copper, timber, pottery, and agricultural goods, as well as diplomatic ties progressively deepened their interdependence. Geopolitical powers of the time relied on variations of the palace economy system, in which wealth

6985-422: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC , and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest. They are most common during later periods: The Hallstatt culture and La Tène culture originated in what is now southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The predominant form of rampart construction

7112-450: The Late Iron Age it had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy , which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with perhaps no more than 50 inhabitants. Hillforts were the exception, and were the home of up to 1,000 people. With the emergence of oppida in the Late Iron Age, settlements could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants. As

7239-426: The Levant from Arameans, but Tiglath-Pileser I (reigned 1114–1076 BC) was able to defeat and repel these attacks, conquering the attackers. The Middle Assyrian Empire survived intact throughout much of this period, with Assyria dominating and often ruling Babylonia directly, and controlling southeastern and southwestern Anatolia , northwestern Iran and much of northern and central Syria and Canaan , as far as

7366-443: The area appears to have undergone extreme political decentralization. For much of the Late Bronze Age, Anatolia had been dominated by the Hittite Empire , but by 1200 BC, the state was already fragmenting under the strain of famine, plague, and civil war. The Hittite capital of Hattusa was burned at an unknown date in this general period, though it may in fact have been abandoned at that point. Karaoğlan, near present-day Ankara ,

7493-409: The assistance of the cyclopes. Thus Greek legend links the three Argolic centers with three mythical heroes: Acrisius , founder of the Doric colony of Argos ; his brother Proetus , founder of Tiryns; and his grandson Perseus , the founder of Mycenae . But this tradition was born at the beginning of the historical period, when Argos was fighting to become the hegemonic power in the area and needed

7620-420: The attackers were forced to cross a very narrow corridor, while the defense could hit them from above and from both sides. In the third phase, the gate was moved further out. The palace of the king, inside the citadel, similar to that of Mycenae (dimensions 11.8 × 9.8 m) consists of three areas: the outer portico with the two columns, the prodomos (anteroom) and the domos (main room) with the cyclical fireplace that

7747-423: The care which was taken here, as in other Mycenaean acropolises, to the basic problem of water access in a time of siege. Hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age . Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortification usually follows

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7874-475: The carving of the Merneptah Stele —whose inscription included the earliest attested mention of Israel in the southern Levant —as well as the destruction of Ugarit and the Amorite states in the Levant , the fragmentation of the Luwian states of western Anatolia, and a period of chaos in Canaan . The deterioration of these governments interrupted trade routes and led to severely reduced literacy in much of this area. Initially historians believed that in

8001-434: The continuation of Tiryns as a settlement. Demand suggests instead that the cause could again be environmental, particularly the lack of homegrown food and the important role of palaces in managing and storing food imports, implying that their destruction only stood to exacerbate the more crucial factor of food shortage. The importance of trade as a factor is supported by Spyros Iakovidis  [ el ] , who points out

8128-409: The contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks or stone ramparts , with stockades or defensive walls , and external ditches. If enemies were approaching, the civilians would spot them from a distance. Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe; in

8255-402: The cooperation of other German archaeologists, who continued his work until 1938. From 1910, the excavations were led by Georg Karo , though the "Tiryns Treasure" was initially excavated in 1915 in Karo's absence by the Greek archaeologist Apostolos Arvanitopoulos  [ el ] , who was stationed in the region as a reserve officer of the Hellenic Army . Karo was removed from his post at

8382-417: The economy of Egypt fell into decline and state treasuries were nearly bankrupt. By defeating the Sea People, Libyans , and Nubians , the territory around Egypt was safe during the collapse of the Bronze Age, but military campaigns in Asia depleted the economy. With his victory over the Sea People, Ramesses III stated, "My sword is great and mighty like that of Montu. No land can stand fast before my arms. I am

8509-652: The element sten / stein were usually hillforts. In Sweden, there are 1,100 known hillforts with a strong concentration on the northern west coast and in eastern Svealand . In Södermanland there are 300, in Uppland 150, Östergötland 130, and 90 to 100 in each of Bohuslän and Gotland . Norway has about 400 hillforts. Denmark has 26 hillforts. The Finnish word for hillfort is linnavuori (plural linnavuoret ), meaning fort hill or castle hill , or alternatively muinaislinna meaning ancient fort , as opposed to bare linna which refers to medieval or later fortifications. One special feature about

8636-400: The emergence of hillforts 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

8763-429: The end of the Late Bronze Age. He has also demonstrated that trade with Egypt continued after 1200 BC. Archaeometallurgical studies performed by various teams have also shown that trade in tin, a non-local metal necessary to make bronze, did not stop or decrease after 1200 BC, even though the closest sources of the metal were modern Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, or perhaps even Cornwall, England. Lead from Sardinia

8890-419: The end of the Late Helladic II period (1500–1400 BC), the second in Late Helladic III (1400–1300 BC), and the third at the end of the Late Helladic III B (1300–1200 BC). The surviving ruins of the Mycenaean citadel date to the end of the third period. The city proper surrounded the acropolis on the plain below. The disaster that struck the Mycenaean centers at the end of the Bronze Age affected Tiryns, but it

9017-480: The enormous stones. After viewing the walls of the ruined citadel in the 2nd century AD, the geographer Pausanias wrote that two mules pulling together could not move even the smaller stones. Tradition also associates the walls with Proetus , the sibling of Acrisius , king of Argos . According to the legend Proetus, pursued by his brother, fled to Lycia. With the help of the Lycians, he managed to return to Argolis. There, Proetus occupied Tiryns and fortified it with

9144-480: The establishment of Archaic Greece . Other cities, such as Athens , continued to be occupied, but with a more local sphere of influence, limited evidence of trade and an impoverished culture, from which it took centuries to recover. These sites in Greece show evidence of the collapse: Iolkos – Knossos – Kydonia – Lefkandi – Menelaion – Mycenae – Nichoria – Pylos – Teichos Dymaion  [ el ] – Tiryns – Thebes, Greece While it survived

9271-633: The excavator to implicate the Cadbury population in a revolt in the 70's AD (roughly contemporary with that of Boudicca in the East of England), although this has been questioned by subsequent researchers. However, the presence of barracks on the hilltop in the decades following the conquest suggest an ongoing struggle to suppress local dissent. Maiden Castle in Dorset is the largest hillfort in England. Where Roman influence

9398-519: The first period of Greek prehistory ended around this time, based on a dating of the fall of Troy to 1190 BC. In 1826, he dated the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt to around the same time. Additional events that have been dated to the first half of the 12th century BC include invasions by the Sea Peoples and Dorians , the fall of Mycenaean Greece and Kassites in Babylonia , and

9525-507: The first phase of this period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed, and many were abandoned, including Hattusa , Mycenae , and Ugarit, with Robert Drews claiming that, "Within a period of forty to fifty years at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the twelfth century, almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world was destroyed, many of them never to be occupied again." However more recent research has shown that Drews overestimated

9652-400: The flooded river has washed out the base of the hill. Now around 80 percent of piliakalniai are covered by forests and are hardly accessible to visitors. In Russia , Belarus and Poland Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called gords . They were the residence of local rulers, and provided for refuge in times of war. Similar structures can be found elsewhere in the world, such as

9779-462: The houses and streets suggesting a fight took place in this residential neighborhood. An additional twenty-five arrowheads were also recovered scattered around the city centre, all of which suggests the city was burnt by an assault not by an earthquake. At the city of Emar, on the Euphrates, at some time between 1187 and 1175 only the monumental and religious structures were targeted for destruction while

9906-412: The houses appear to have been emptied, abandoned and were not destroyed with the monumental structures which suggests that the city was burned by attackers even though no weapons were recovered. While certain cities such as Ugarit and Emar were destroyed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, there are several others which were not destroyed even though they erroneously appear on most maps of destruction from

10033-449: 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

10160-524: The island was reconquered by his son Suppiluliuma II around 1200 BC. There is little evidence of destruction on the island of Cyprus in the years surrounding 1200 BC which marks the separation between the Late Cypriot II (LCII) from the LCIII period. The city of Kition is commonly cited as destroyed at the end of the LC IIC, but the excavator, Vassos Karageorghis, made it expressly clear that it

10287-535: The king is preserved on one of the clay tablets found baked in the conflagration of the destruction of the city. Ammurapi stresses the seriousness of the crisis faced by many Levantine states due to attacks. In response to a plea for assistance from the king of Alasiya , Ammurapi highlights the desperate situation Ugarit faced in letter RS 18.147: My father, behold, the enemy's ships came (here); my cities(?) were burned, and they did evil things in my country. Does not my father know that all my troops and chariots(?) are in

10414-503: The lack of evidence for violent or sudden decline in Mycenae. Pylos offers some more clues to its destruction, as the intensive and extensive destruction by fire around 1180 BC reflects the violent destruction of the city. There is some evidence of Pylos expecting a seaborne attack, with tablets at Pylos discussing "Watchers guarding the coast". Eric Cline rebuts the idea that this is evidence of an attack by Sea People, pointing out that

10541-621: The late 10th century BC, Assyria once more asserted itself internationally, and the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to be the largest the world had yet seen. The situation in Babylonia was very different. After the Assyrian withdrawal, it was still subject to periodic Assyrian (and Elamite ) subjugation, and new groups of Semitic speakers such as the Arameans and Suteans (and in the period after

10668-586: The local people forcibly evicted, and the forts left derelict. For example, Solsbury Hill was sacked and deserted during the Belgic invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Abandoned forts were sometimes reoccupied and refortified under renewed threat of foreign invasion, such as the Dukes' Wars in Lithuania , and the successive invasions of Britain by Romans , Saxons and Vikings . Celtic hillforts developed in

10795-582: The main fortress, the settlement around it, one or more burial fields and nearby ritual sites. The first hillforts in Latvia, such as Daugmale hillfort, appeared during the Bronze Age . Some were continuously inhabited until the late Iron Age . During the Roman Iron Age, some of the Latvian hillforts (like Ķivutkalns ) were abandoned or became sparsely populated. A new period in hillfort development started during

10922-429: The megaron were incorporated into an archaic temple of Hera . The site went into decline at the end of the Mycenaean period , and was completely deserted by the time Pausanias visited in the 2nd century AD. In 1300 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 10,000 people covering 20–25 hectares. Despite the destruction of the palace in 1200 BC, the city population continued to increase and by 1150 BC it had

11049-411: The myths surrounding Heracles, as the city was the residence of the hero during his labors, and some sources cite it as his birthplace. The famous megaron of the palace of Tiryns has a large reception hall, the main room of which had a throne placed against the right wall and a central hearth bordered by four Minoan -style wooden columns that served as supports for the roof. Two of the three walls of

11176-528: The number of cities that were destroyed and referenced destructions that never happened. According to Millek, If one goes through archaeological literature from the past 150 years, there are 148 sites with 153 destruction events ascribed to the end of the Late Bronze Age ca. 1200 BC. However, of these, 94, or 61%, have either been misdated, assumed based on little evidence, or simply never happened at all. For Drews's map, and his subsequent discussion of some other sites which he believed were destroyed ca. 1200 BC, of

11303-632: The only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction". Hillforts in Britain are known from the Bronze Age , but the great period of hillfort construction was during the Celtic Iron Age, between 700 BC and the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. The Romans occupied some forts, such as the military garrison at Hod Hill , and the temple at Brean Down , but others were destroyed and abandoned. Partially articulated remains of between 28 and 40 men, women and children at Cadbury Castle were thought by

11430-508: The original height, which is estimated at 9–10 m. The walls are quite thick, usually 6 meters, and up to 17 m at the points where the tunnels pass through. A strong transverse wall separates the acropolis into two sections -the south includes the palatial buildings, while the northern protects only the top of the hill area. In this second section, which dates to the end of the Mycenaean era, small gates and many tunnels occasionally open, covered with

11557-488: The original. The destruction levels of Ugarit contained Late Helladic IIIB ware, but no LH IIIC (see Mycenaean Greece ). Therefore, the date of the destruction is important for the dating of the LH IIIC phase. Since an Egyptian sword bearing the name of Pharaoh Merneptah was found in the destruction levels, 1190 BC was taken as the date for the beginning of the LH IIIC. A cuneiform tablet found in 1986 shows that Ugarit

11684-511: The palace of Tiryns to be medieval, so he came very close to destroying the remains to excavate deeper for Mycenaean treasures. He returned in 1884 with more archaeological experience and worked for 5 months there. However, the next period of excavation was under Wilhelm Dörpfeld , a director of the German Archaeological Institute ; this time, the ruins were estimated properly. The excavations were repeated later by Dörpfeld with

11811-409: The people from your country (who) committed these transgression(s) ... I am writing to inform you and protect you. Be aware! The ruler of Carchemish sent troops to assist Ugarit, but Ugarit was sacked. Letter RS 19.011 (KTU 2.61) sent from Ugarit following the destruction said: To Ž(?)rdn, my lord, say: thy messenger arrived. The degraded one trembles, and the low one is torn to pieces. Our food in

11938-470: The place that corresponded to the royal throne. The floor was richly decorated with different themes in the area around the walls and the space between the columns of the fireplace. Of course, here the walls were decorated with paintings. In the ruins of the mansion, which burned during the 8th century BC, a Doric temple was built during the Geometric period . Smaller than the mansion, it consisted of two parts,

12065-408: The population increased so did the complexity of prehistoric societies. Around 1100 BC hillforts emerged and in the following centuries spread through Europe. They served a range of purposes and were variously tribal centres, defended places, foci of ritual activity, and places of production. Hillforts were frequently occupied by conquering armies, but on other occasions the forts were destroyed,

12192-600: The pre-Israelite Middle Bronze IIB and the Israelite Iron Age IIC period ( c.  1800–1550 and c.  720–586 BC), but that during the intervening Late Bronze (LB) and Iron Age I and IIA/B Ages sites like Jerusalem were small, relatively insignificant, and unfortified. Some recent writing argues that although some collapses may have happened in this period, these may not have been widespread. Advanced civilizations with extensive trade networks and complex sociopolitical institutions characterized

12319-479: The prodomos and the cella. The width of the temple was just greater than half that of the mansion, while the back wall of the temple reached the height of the rear columns of the fireplace. Three springs fed into the compound, one in the western side of the large courtyard which could be accessed by a secret entrance, and two at the end of north side of the wall, accessed via two tunnels in the wall. These and similar such structures found in other shelters are witnesses to

12446-524: The region's previously existing powers. The palace economy of Mycenaean Greece , the Aegean region , and Anatolia that characterized the Late Bronze Age disintegrated, transforming into the small isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages , which lasted from c.  1100 to c.  750 BC , and were followed by the better-known Archaic Age . The Hittite Empire spanning Anatolia and

12573-650: The reign of Ramesses III, Philistines were allowed to resettle the coastal strip from Gaza to Joppa, Denyen (possibly the tribe of Dan in the Bible, or more likely the people of Adana, also known as Danuna, part of the Hittite Empire) settled from Joppa to Acre , and Tjekker in Acre. The sites quickly achieved independence, as the Tale of Wenamun shows. Despite many theories which claim that trade relations broke down after 1200 in

12700-575: The roof was made from fire-baked tiles. The first Greek inhabitants—the creators of the Middle Helladic civilization and the Mycenaean civilization after that—settled Tiryns at the beginning of the Middle Helladic period (2000–1600 BC). In the Late Helladic, the city underwent its greatest growth, also known as the Mycenaean period. The Acropolis was constructed in three phases, the first at

12827-484: The site of Sinda as it is not clear if it was destroyed since only some ash was found but no other evidence that the city was destroyed like fallen walls or burnt rubble. The only settlement on Cyprus that has clear evidence it was destroyed around 1200 BC was Maa Palaeokastro , which was likely destroyed by some sort of attack, though the excavators were not sure who attacked it, saying, "We might suggest that [the attackers] were 'pirates', 'adventurers' or remnants of

12954-551: The southern Levant was destroyed around 1200 BC. At Lachish , the Fosse Temple III was ritually terminated while a house in Area S appears to have burned in a house fire as the most severe evidence of burning was next to two ovens while no other part of the city had evidence of burning. After this though the city was rebuilt in a grander fashion than before. For Megiddo, most parts of the city did not have any signs of damage and it

13081-418: The southern Levant were abandoned without destruction including Dier el-Balah, Ashkelon, Tel Mor, Tell el-Far'ah (South), Tel Gerisa, Tell Jemmeh, Tel Masos , and Qubur el-Walaydah. Not all Egyptian sites in the southern Levant were abandoned without destruction. The Egyptian garrison at Aphek was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century. The Egyptian gate complex uncovered at Jaffa

13208-654: The southern Levant, there is ample evidence that trade with other regions continued after the end of the Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. Archaeologist Jesse Millek has shown that while the common assumption is that trade in Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery ended around 1200 BC, trade in Cypriot pottery actually largely came to an end at 1300 BC, while for Mycenaean pottery, this trade ended at 1250 BC, and destruction around 1200 BC could not have affected either pattern of international trade since it ended before

13335-426: The subsequent Iron Age across Europe , Asia, and Africa during the 1st millennium BC. Scholarship in the late 20th and early 21st century has articulated views of the collapse as being more limited in scale and scope than previously thought. The German historian Arnold Hermann Ludwig Heeren first dated the Late Bronze Age collapse to 1200 BC. In an 1817 history of Ancient Greece, Heeren stated that

13462-489: The support of pales. They often have well delineated gateways, the gates of which were probably of wood. Hillforts with strong walls are often located beside old trade routes and have an offensive character, whereas others are reclusive and were weakly fortified, probably only for hiding during raids. Many forts, located centrally in densely populated areas, were permanently settled strongholds and can show traces of settlements both inside and outside. Older place names containing

13589-492: The tablet does not say what is being watched for or why. Cline does not see naval attacks as playing a role in Pylos's decline. Demand, however, argues that, regardless of what the threat from the sea was, it likely played a role in the decline, at least in hindering trade and perhaps vital food imports. The Bronze Age collapse marked the start of what has been called the Greek Dark Ages , which lasted roughly 400 years and ended with

13716-732: The term embraces a wide range of very different settlements in high locations. At least a few of the Germanic settlements were protected by fortifications. Unlike the Romans, however, the Germanii did not use mortar at that time for their construction. Among the best known hill settlements in Germany are the Runder Berg near Bad Urach and the Gelbe Bürg near Dittenheim. In Sweden, hillforts are fortifications from

13843-419: The threshing floors is sacked and the vineyards are also destroyed. Our city is sacked, and may you know it! This quote is frequently interpreted as "the degraded one", referring to the army being humiliated, destroyed, or both. The letter is also quoted with the final statement "Mayst thou know it"/"May you know it" repeated twice for effect in several later sources, while no such repetition appears to occur in

13970-453: The violent destruction of cities and towns. These include climate change , volcanic eruptions, droughts, disease, invasions by the Sea Peoples or migrations of the Dorians , economic disruptions due to increased ironworking , and changes in military technology and strategy that brought the decline of chariot warfare. Following the collapse, gradual changes in metallurgic technology led to

14097-401: The yard of a Mycenaean palace. It was 28 m (92 ft) in diameter. It appears to be a fortified area of refuge for the city's inhabitants in time of war, and/or a residence of a king. Its base was powerful, and was constructed from two concentric stone walls, among which there were others cross-cutting, so that the thickness reached 45 m (148 ft). The superstructure was clay and

14224-509: Was pfostenschlitzmauer , or Kelheim-style . During the Hallstatt ;C period, hillforts became the dominant settlement type in the west of Hungary. Julius Caesar described the large late Iron Age hillforts he encountered during his campaigns in Gaul as oppida . By this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns. The reason for

14351-969: Was a new linear earthwork connected to the existing hillfort at Maes Knoll , which defined the Celtic-Saxon border in south-west England during the period 577–652 CE. Some hillforts were re-occupied by the Anglo-Saxons during the period of Viking raids. King Alfred established a network of coastal hillforts and lookout posts in Wessex , linked by a Herepath , or military road, which enabled his armies to cover Viking movements at sea. For example, see Daw's Castle and Battle of Cynwit . It has been suggested on reasonable evidence that many so-called hillforts were just used to pen in cattle, horses, or other domesticated animals. The large sprawling examples at Bindon Hill and Bathampton Down are more than 50 acres (20  ha ). Even those that were defensive settlements in

14478-513: Was a period of societal collapse in the Mediterranean basin during the 12th century BC. It is thought to have affected much of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East , in particular Egypt , Anatolia , the Aegean , eastern Libya , and the Balkans . The collapse was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, creating a sharp material decline for

14605-563: Was burned and the corpses left unburied. Many Anatolian sites have destruction layers dating to this general period. Some of them such as Troy were immediately rebuilt, while others such as Kaymakçı were abandoned. This period appears to have also been a time of migration. For instance, some evidence that the Phrygians arrived in Anatolia during this period, possibly through the Bosporus or over

14732-405: Was destroyed after the death of Merneptah. It is generally agreed that Ugarit had already been destroyed by the eighth year of Ramesses III , 1178 BC. Letters on clay tablets that were baked in the conflagration caused by the destruction of the city speak of attack from the sea, and a letter from Alashiya ( Cyprus ) speaks of cities already being destroyed by attackers who came by sea. There

14859-490: Was destroyed at the end of the 12th century between 1134 and 1115 based on C14 dates, while Beth-Shean was partially though not completely destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, in the mid-12th century. Egyptian evidence shows that from the reign of Horemheb (ruled either 1319 or 1306 to 1292 BC), wandering Shasu were more problematic than the earlier Apiru . Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC) campaigned against them, pursuing them as far as Moab , where he established

14986-580: Was given to Tiryns and its mythical rulers and traditions by epics and drama. Pausanias dedicated a short piece (2.25.8) to Tiryns, and newer travelers, traveling to Greece in search of places where the heroes of the ancient texts lived, did not understand the significance of the city. The Acropolis was first excavated by Alexandros Rizos Rangavis and the German scholar Friedrich Thiersch in 1831. After trial excavations in August 1876, Heinrich Schliemann considered

15113-557: Was known for unrest and military activities, as well as power struggles between local aristocracy. Most of the Latvian hillforts were destroyed or abandoned during the Livonian Crusade in the 13th century, but some were still used in the 14th century. In total, there are about 470 hillforts in Latvia. The Lithuanian word for hillfort is piliakalnis (plural piliakalniai ), from pilis (=castle) and kalnas (=mountain, hill). Lithuania has hillforts dating from

15240-497: Was less strong, such as uninvaded Ireland and unsubdued northern Scotland, hillforts were still built and used for several more centuries. There are over 2,000 Iron Age hillforts known in Britain of which nearly 600 are in Wales. Danebury in Hampshire , is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published. Cadbury Castle, Somerset

15367-634: Was made in a cauldron in Tiryns's lower town, within the foundations of a Mycenaean house. At the beginning of the Classical period Tiryns, like Mycenae, became a relatively insignificant city. When Cleomenes I of Sparta defeated the Argives , their slaves occupied Tiryns for many years, according to Herodotus . Herodotus also mentions that Tiryns took part in the Battle of Plataea in 480 BC with 400 hoplites . Even in decline, Mycenae and Tiryns were disturbing to

15494-529: Was not destroyed stating, "At Kition, major rebuilding was carried out in both excavated Areas I and II, but there is no evidence of violent destruction; on the contrary, we observe a cultural continuity." Jesse Millek has demonstrated that while it is possible that the city of Enkomi was destroyed, the archaeological evidence is not clear. Of the two buildings dating to the end of the LC IIC excavated at Enkomi, both had limited evidence of burning and most rooms were without any kind of damage. The same can be said for

15621-487: Was not flight from violence. Nancy Demand posits that environmental changes could have played an important role in the collapse of Athens. In particular Demand notes the presence of "enclosed and protected means of access to water sources at Athens" as evidence of persistent droughts in the region that could have resulted in a fragile reliance on imports. Up to 90% of small sites in the Peloponnese were abandoned, suggesting

15748-497: Was reused in the Middle Ages, with a stone castle built there in the 13th century CE. Some Iron Age hillforts were also incorporated into medieval frontier earthworks. For example Offa's Dyke , a linear earthwork generally dated to the 9th century CE, makes use of the west and south-west ramparts of Llanymynech hillfort. Similarly the hillfort at Old Oswestry was incorporated into the early medieval Wat's Dyke . The Wansdyke

15875-524: Was still being imported to the southern Levant after 1200 BC during the early Iron Age. These sites in the Southern Levant show evidence of the collapse: Akko – Ashdod – Ashkelon – Beth Shemesh – Bethel – Deir 'Alla (Sukkot) – Tel Lachish – Tel Hazor – Tel Megiddo The Middle Assyrian Empire (1392–1056 BC) had destroyed the Hurrian-Mitanni Empire, annexed much of

16002-406: Was surrounded by four wooden columns. The lateral compartments of the palace seem to have a second floor. The decoration of the walls of the outer arcade was rich. They had a zone at the bottom of alabaster slabs with relief rosettes and flowers. The rest was decorated with frescos . Three doors lead to prodomos and then another to the domos. In the middle of the eastern wall is visible in the floor

16129-553: Was usually sculpted for defensive purposes, with the top flattened and the natural slopes made steeper for defence. During the early years of Grand Duchy of Lithuania piliakalniai played a major role in conflicts with the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Knights . During this period the number of piliakalniai in use decreased, but those that remained had stronger fortifications. Two main defence lines developed: one along

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