Why hillforts? A comparative synthesis of hillforts within their landscape and social contexts.

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Hill-top enclosures, often referred to as 'hillforts', have been built by different societies around the world for millennia. They are often a dominant feature within their landscapes, archaeological interpretations, as well as broader public consciousness of heritage. There are up to 30,000 later prehistoric hillforts spread across Europe, as well as numerous non-prehistoric examples across Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and North and South America. This research aims to consider why the act of enclosing space(s) upon prominent positions within the landscape has been important to so many widely differing societies. By building on the work of Fox (1976), the research aims to develop critically underutilised ethnographic approaches to comparative synthesis. In particular, the research aims to consider change and continuity through time, the interrelationships between hillforts and their surrounding landscapes and settlements, the economic role of hillforts and concepts of proto-urbanisation, how the act of enclosure creates and reshapes communities and identities, hillforts as loci's of power and the role of hillforts in defence and warfare. Each of these topics, as well as the broader need for synthesis, has been highlighted as a key research theme within later prehistoric British and Irish studies. In this way the research aims to add to current conceptualisations of hillforts within British prehistory, challenge paradigms, and stimulate fresh debates.