22 ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS In 



afcertain the sera in which thofe fortifications were conftructed, 

 fome ufeful light might be thrown upon the ancient hiftory of 

 this country, and the condition of fociety in thofe remote pe- 

 riods. This I fhall now attempt ; and, in the courfe of a fhort 

 difquifition upon that fubject, fhall have occafion to mark the 

 progrefs of architecture in Britain, from its firft introduction 

 into the fouthern parts, till it had attained to considerable per- 

 fection, and the knowledge of the art of building had extended 

 itfelf, in fome degree, to the remotefl quarters of the iiland. 



At the time when thofe fortifications were reared, it is evi- 

 dent that the ufe of mortar was unknown. As it muft be fup- 

 pofed that the builders exerted the utmofl of their architectural 

 fkill (fo far as ftrength was concerned) in fabricating thofe 

 flruclures, we cannot doubt, that, as the country abounded in 

 lime-ftone, had its ufe been known as a cement, it muft have 

 been employed in fuch works. This brings them at once up 

 to a period of time prior to the Roman eftablifhments in the 

 northern parts of Britain. The Romans employed mortar in 

 all their buildings, of which many remains are at prefent exifl- 

 ing in thofe parts of the ifland where they are known to have 

 formed fettlements. They taught the Britons the ufe of that 

 cement, of which, till then, they were ignorant. 



At the time of Cjesar's invafion of Britain, the inhabi- 

 tants of the fouthern, and probably the moft civilized part 

 of the ifland, lived in huts conftructed with turf, or with the 

 branches of trees. Their towns or villages were nothing 

 more than an inclofed part of a wood, furrounded by a ditch 

 and rampart, within the circle of which they reared their 

 huts. " Oppidum vocant Britanni cum fylvas impeditas val- 

 " lo atque fofTa munierunt." Ces. de Bell. Gal. lib. 5. cap. 21. 

 Thefe inclofures or towns were but a temporary refidence, and 

 probably reforted to, only when it was necefTary to defend 



themfelves 



