THE EARLY DEFENSIVE EARTHWORK ON COMB MOSS. 109 



that no systematic attempt has been made to record the 

 " finds " in a way to enable us to decide upon the relative age 

 of the fortresses. 



Form of construction alone will not always give the required 

 basis for judgment, as the most simple forms adopted by early 

 men were also on occasion used by the invaders of the eighth 

 to the tenth centuries. In fact, when we examine forts of a 

 time before the Roman dominion we are unable to fix a date, and 

 must veil our ignorance by calling them pre-historic. 



There are, however, certain characteristic features which 

 distinguish early hill-forts. The entrance ways to these works 

 were marked by difficulty of approach, for early man liked 

 something circuitous, as at Ardoch ; dangerous, as at Comb 

 Moss ; or involved, as at Maiden Castle. 



The situation of a fort on a great hill 1,000 to 2,000 feet 

 above the vales also indicates origin at a time when the tribes 

 who lived on the lower ground needed, near by, a camp of 

 refuge for men, women, children, and cattle, to be used only 

 when tribal enemies were on the war-path. 



Noticing the skill with which many of the early entrance 

 ways were arranged, in some cases involving a passage along 

 the outer fosse for many yards before arriving at the opening 

 through the inner rampart, one cannot but be reminded of those 

 stone-built works of far later days which the Normans reared, 

 guarding every passage, sometimes leaving a gap between the 

 fore-building and the keep door, into which an enemy might 

 fall ; sometimes carrying a winding .stair up to a higher floor, 

 making it necessary to descend another stair tO' reach the lower 

 rooms, and so on. 



Much more might be said than space will allow, and it is 

 necessary to pass to the Derbyshire example which is selected 

 for illustration of the work of early man. 



Occupying a bold promontory high above Chapel-en-le-Frith 

 valley and the surrounding country, Comb Moss fort is an 

 interesting work of the " refuge " type. In shape triangular ; 

 nature has defended two sides by cliffs or precipitous slopes 



