44 SURVEYS OF VALLEY ENTRENCHMENTS. 



CONCLUSION. 



Comparatively little has yet been done in the study of 

 valley entrenchments, and although it has been proved by 

 excavation that certain examples, including the valley-side 

 and valley-proper types belong to the Bronze Age, one feels 

 the urgent need for further investigation. It remains to 

 be shown whether any of our Sussex and Dorset valley 

 entrenchments belong to periods earlier or later than Bronze 

 Age times. 



That these valley works were not constructed for defence 

 against man is evident from their situations, which are most 

 defective in this respect. One inclines to the view that 

 they were thrown up (at least in prehistoric times) as cattle 

 folds, or in some instances for the protection of flocks and 

 herds from attack by wild beasts. The classification advanced 

 must not be considered an arbitrary one, for the slight 

 quadrilateral entrenchments of the hillsides may have well 

 served the same purpose. 



