ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



hill, and consists of a well-pronounced rampart and outer fosse on the 

 east, south, and west sides, and a more complicated and disturbed 

 arrangement on the north side. The nearly circular form is due to 

 the shape of the hill, and the works simply follow the line where more 

 or less level tableland ends and steep slope commences ; whilst the 

 more elaborate works on the northern side are obviously due to the 

 more gentle slope and greater accessibility on that side. General Pitt- 

 Rivers, in referring to the defensive works of this camp, writes : ' The 

 ramparts of these intrenchments were intended not so much to give 

 cover to the defenders or as an obstacle to the assailants, but rather to 

 give the defenders a command over the outside of the work. It is 

 probable that the defenders stood upon the banks and threw their 

 darts and other missiles over a palisade or an abatis at the approaching 

 enemy. 



' On those sides where the natural slope of the hill gave all the 

 command that could be desired, artificial banks of any great height 

 were unnecessary, and the defence was .,„ 



probably limited to a stockade or an abatis ^..^n^u,:,!'''""""""" 'rymuiu, 



on those sides. This is the only way of ac- *<^**3!"!r!l'I'^v'(i;;''^^ 



counting for the total absence of earthworks •'^" /^^'-""''"'"'"''^^ 

 in some points of a line of intrenchments, !?■ .^/ ,>., \sr» 



where a natural decHvity presents itself, 

 and where the line of fortification could 

 not certainly have been regarded as com- 

 plete or inaccessible without some additional ^^,^^orTz^l''^'''?Svr'^^ 

 defence.' ° — ' ' " '"° ' "° 



The camp at Mount Caburn has two ^^""^'^ Ck^vk^. 



entrances. That on the north-east is strengthened by the rampart being 

 thrown back on each side of the opening in a re-entering angle so as to 

 command and flank the passage across the fosse which is over an embanked 

 causeway. There are three circles, possibly the huts of an advanced 

 guard, placed outside this opening, which were clearly intended to serve 

 as part of the defence of the entrance. The other gateway or entrance 

 to the camp was on the north-west side, leading in the direction of 

 another earthwork, known as Ranscombe Camp, presently to be noticed. 

 Within the camp at Mount Caburn there were traces of upwards of 

 fifty pits, probably the sites of dwellings, but these are not now very 

 distinct. They were perhaps destroyed during the explorations here, 

 the results of which clearly proved that, whatever may have been 

 the period of the first construction of the camp, it was a stronghold of 

 considerable importance during the Late Celtic period. Neolithic chips 

 of flint have been found in some abundance scattered in the vicinity of 

 the camp, but outside rather than within its boundaries. 



Ranscombe Camp. — This interesting work is situated about 500 

 yards to the west of Mount Caburn. It cuts across the hill and 

 faces Mount Caburn, having a ditch on its east side. Although it 

 looks insignificant when mapped, and indeed shows but indiff^erently 



459 



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%'r 



