Fortifications and Enclosures in European Prehistory: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

This article reviews recent research into the archaeological interpretation and investigation of fortifications and enclosures during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Europe. Recent methodological, technological, and cultural developments have expanded our understanding of the temporal, spatial, and formal variability of these features on the landscape. Interpretations of this variability also have varied with different theoretical trends in the discipline. We advocate a crosscultural approach that focuses on the occurrence of enclosures and fortifications over the long term at the continental scale. Such a macroscalar approach complements interpretive frameworks at the regional and microregional scales. The geographic and temporal distribution of these features indicates that social institutions associated with principles of segmentation and substitutability became formalized and tethered to the landscape during the Neolithic.

Site size hierarchy in middle-range societies

“…There is good evidence for warfare and fortification in the region starting in the Middle Neolithic, and a general increase in militarism during the Bronze Age (Harding, 1999(Harding, , 2007Parkinson and Duffy, 2007). Site size hierarchies are often considered to index new political forms, increasing warfare and the rise of a warrior class (Earle and Kolb, 2010;Kristiansen and Larsson, 2005:125, 158).…”

Different ways of using space: traces of domestic and ritual activities at a Late Neolithic settlement at Sormás-Török-földek

“…Notwithstanding the numerous hypotheses, none can be fully confirmed. The possible interpretations have been reviewed several times (Trnka 1991;Petrasch 1990;Daim, Neubauer 2005;Podborský and Kovárník 2006;Parkinson, Duffy 2007;Raczky, Anders 2010). One possible way to arrive closer to the main point of the discussion is to study the relation between the enclosures and settlement.…”

Cultural Landscapes of War and Political Regeneration

“…in their cross-cultural study of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe (c. 6500 to 1000 b.c. ), Parkinson and Duffy (2007) assessed fortifications, enclosures, and other monumental and communally built features on landscapes. They argue that the creation of features on the landscape such as fortifications and enclosures for defense are similar to features such as enclosures and henges that are built to bring groups together for rituals.…”