ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



point of the rampart, marked A on the plan, may have been an 

 observation post. 



The position of the enclosing earthworks on the slope of the 

 hill all round is worthy of notice. These are judiciously placed, not 

 along the top of the hill, but at a sufficient distance down the slope, 

 to enable the defenders within the camp to command the approach to 

 the work. 



It will be seen, therefore, that this earthwork presents all the 

 characteristics of a hill-top fortress in which the defences follow the 

 natural line of the hill (Class B), and also features which would entitle 

 us to place it among those works which are partly inaccessible by reason 

 of precipices (Class A). It may be considered a good example of a 

 hill-top promontory camp. 



Neolithic implements, chips, cores, etc., are abundant. There 

 seems to have been no source of water-supply in or near the camp, and, 

 as far as one can now judge, no method of catching rainfall water. 

 The absence of water, therefore, seems to be opposed to the idea that 

 the camp was ever permanently occupied by a large number of people, 

 whilst it would have been impossible for a small force to protect such 

 a long line of defensive works against a determined enemy. 



Edburton. — This little work is situated about two miles to the 

 west of the Devil's Dyke. It is a curious example of a mount-and- 

 bailey camp placed upon the top of the Downs, but as it presents no 

 feature in any way related to hill-top camps it will be convenient to 

 deal with it at a later stage in this article under Class E. 



Chanctonbury Ring. — This earthwork, which occupies a small 

 part of a very prominent hill about 7I miles due west of the Devil's 

 Dyke, is of oval form, conforming to the contour of the ground, 

 which slopes gently from it on all sides except the north, where the 

 slope is very steep. There is a rampart within a fosse, and traces of an 

 entrance appear on the south-west and also on the east. The earth- 

 work occupies an angle of the Downs, a narrow ridge which forms the 

 crest of the Downs leading from the camp in a 

 south-eastern direction, and another running in a 

 western direction. Both of these ridges are de- 

 fended by advanced works consisting of lines of 

 rampart and outer fosse, and it is clear that these 

 formed part of the defensive system of the camp, 

 although the breastwork to the west does not 

 seem to have been of much value from a military 

 point of view. The breastwork to the south-east, 

 however, is more complicated and formidable. 

 General Pitt-Rivers points out that in addition to these outworks, which 

 are similar to those of Wolstanbury, the entrance to the main intrench- 

 ment is covered by three circles with slight depressions in the centres. 

 A similar circle covers the opening in the outwork on the south-east. 

 Between the mainwork and the south-eastern outwork there are two 



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