Small-scale excavations in 1976 demonstrated that the hillfort of Liddington Castle was first defended in the Late Bronze Age/Earliest Iron Age, though there had been earlier use of the hilltop. The initial defences were of timber and turf, later enlarged to a more massive dump rampart; there was evidence of at least two or three phases in these works. In the interior of the fort, a shaft of uncertain date was located, and a small pit or emplacement of the Early or Middle Iron Age. Test pits in the entrance area suggested a possible refurbishment. Finds include a useful group of pottery of the seventh-fifth centuries B. c., a group of probably associated flints, iron and copper alloy objects, human and animal bone, and mollusca. There were also a few Roman and later sherds; the discovery of the former was germane to the principal aim of the excavation, to test the hypothesis that the site might be identified as that of the Battle of Mount Badon. In pursuance of this aim, the report includes an extensive discussion of the hill and its area, the debate on the nature and location of Badon, and a theoretical account of the extent to which archaeology can be expected to throw light on the dark age 'history' of Liddington.