Editing Hillfort (section)

== Other Hillforts in Europe ==

=== Iberian Peninsula ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Campoo]] -->
[[File:Castro de Coaña.JPG|thumb|Hillfort at Coaña, [[Asturias]], Spain]]
{{Main article|Castro culture}}
{{Main article|Castros in Spain}}
[[File:Castrogalego.jpg|thumb|Hillfort in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]]]
In [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]], [[province of Ávila]] and [[Northern Portugal]] a ''castro'' is a fortified pre-[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] Iron Age village, usually located on a hill or some naturally easy defendable place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castrenor.com/?mod=mapacastros&event=listaCastros&lang=en |title=Castrenor |publisher=Castrenor |access-date=2010-06-21}}</ref> The larger hillforts are also called {{lang|la|citanias}}, {{lang|la|cividades}} or {{lang|la|cidás}} (English: ''cities'').
They were located on hilltops, which allowed tactical control over the surrounding countryside and provided natural defences. They usually had access to a spring or small creek to provide water; some even had large reservoirs to use during [[siege]]s. Typically, a castro had one to five stone and earth walls, which complemented the natural defences of the hill. The buildings inside, most of them circular in shape, some rectangular, were about {{convert|3.5|-|15|m|abbr=on}} long; they were made out of stone with thatch roofs resting on a wood column in the centre of the building. In the major [[oppida]] there were regular streets, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in area from less than a hectare to some 50 hectare ones, and most were abandoned after the Roman conquest of the territory.

Many castros were already established during the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] period, pre-dating the [[Hallstatt culture]].

Many of the [[megalith]]s from the Bronze Age such as [[menhir]]s and [[dolmen]]s, which are frequently located near the castros, also pre-date the Celts in Portugal, [[Asturias]] and [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] as well as in Atlantic France, Britain and Ireland. These megaliths were probably reused in syncretic rituals by the Celtic [[Druid]]s.

The [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] people occupied an inland region in central northern Spain, straddling the upper valleys of the [[Ebro]], [[Douro]] and [[Tajo]]. They built hillforts, fortified hilltop towns and [[oppida]], including [[Numantia]].

=== Migration Period Germany ===
During the [[Migration Period]] (300-600 CE), a large number of hilltop settlements were established both on Roman imperial territory and the lands of the [[Germanic peoples]]. However, the term embraces many very different settlements in high locations. Fortifications protected at least a few Germanic settlements. Unlike the Romans, however, the Germanii did not use mortar for their construction at that time. Among the best-known hill settlements in Germany are the [[Runder Berg]] near [[Bad Urach]] and the [[Gelbe Burg]] near [[Dittenheim]].

=== Sweden===
In Sweden, hillforts are fortifications from the Iron Age which may have had several functions. They are usually located on the crests of hills and mountains making use of precipices and marshes which worked as natural defences. The crests' more accessible parts were defended with walls of stone and outer walls in the slopes beneath are common. Round and closed, so-called ''[[ring fort]]s'' are common even on flat ground. The walls often have remaining parts of stone, which were probably the support of pales. They often have well delineated gateways, the gates of which were probably of wood. Hillforts with strong walls are often located beside old trade routes and have an offensive character, whereas others are reclusive and were weakly fortified, probably only for hiding during raids.

Many forts, located centrally in densely populated areas, were permanently settled strongholds and can show traces of settlements both inside and outside. Older place names containing the element ''sten''/''stein'' were usually hillforts.

In Sweden, there are 1,100 known hillforts with a strong concentration on the northern west coast and in eastern [[Svealand]]. In [[Södermanland]] there are 300, in [[Uppland]] 150, [[Östergötland]] 130, and 90 to 100 in each of [[Bohuslän]] and [[Gotland]].

===Norway===
Norway has about 400 hillforts.

===Denmark===
Denmark has 26 hillforts.

=== Finland ===
[[File:Unikonlinna 2.JPG|thumb|A ruins of the Unikonlinna hillfort in [[Janakkala]], Finland]]
The [[Finnish language|Finnish]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|fi|linnavuori}} (plural {{Lang|fi|linnavuoret}}), meaning ''fort hill'' or ''castle hill'', or alternatively ''{{Lang|fi|muinaislinna}}'' meaning ''ancient fort'', as opposed to bare ''{{Lang|fi|linna}}'' which refers to medieval or later fortifications.

One special feature about the Finnish hillforts that while most of them are located these days within some distance from the sea, but earlier many of the forts were located by the sea, due to [[post-glacial rebound]].

Finland has around 100 hillforts verified by excavations, and about 200 more suspected sites. The largest hillfort in Finland is the [[Rapola Castle]], other notable are the [[Old Castle of Lieto]] and the Sulkava hillfort.

=== Estonia ===
[[File:VarbolaRuins.jpg|thumb|Varbola hillfort ruins in Estonia]]

The [[Estonian language|Estonian]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|et|linnamägi}} (plural {{Lang|et|linnamäed}}), meaning ''hillfort'' or ''hillburgh''. There are several hundred hillforts or presumed ancient hillfort sites all over Estonia. Some of them, like [[Toompea]] in Tallinn or [[Tartu|Toomemägi]] in Tartu, are governance centres used since ancient times up until today. Some others, like [[Varbola Stronghold|Varbola]] are historical sites nowadays.

Most likely the Estonian hillforts were in pre-Christian times administrative, economic and military centres of [[Ancient Estonia|Estonian tribes]]. Although some of them were probably used only during times of crisis and stood empty in peacetime (for example Soontagana in Koonga parish, [[Pärnu county]]).

{{ill|List of Estonian fortresses|et|Eesti linnuste loend}} contains a common list of castles, fortresses, forts, an hillforts.

=== Latvia ===
{{Main article|List of hillforts in Latvia}}
[[File:2010 09 04 7Tervete37.JPG|thumb|Tērvete hillfort. Main [[Semigallians|Semigallian]] centre in the late Iron Age]]
The Latvian word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|lv|pilskalns}} (plural: {{Lang|lv|pilskalni}}), from ''{{Lang|lv|pils}}'' (castle) and ''{{Lang|lv|kalns}}'' (hill).

Hillforts in [[Latvia]] offered not only military and administrative functions but they were also cultural and economic centres of some regions. Latvian hillforts generally were a part of a complex consisting of the main fortress, the settlement around it, one or more burial fields and nearby ritual sites. The first hillforts in Latvia, such as Daugmale hillfort, appeared during the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lnvm.lv/en/?page_id=863|title=Ancient History of Latvia (11 000 BC – 1200) ← National History Museum of Latvia}}</ref> Some were continuously inhabited until the late [[Iron Age]].<ref name=Bielenstein>{{harvnb|Bielenstein|1869}}</ref><ref name=Moora>{{harvnb|Moora|1929}}</ref>

During the Roman Iron Age, some of the Latvian hillforts (like [[Ķivutkalns]]) were abandoned or became sparsely populated. A new period in hillfort development started during the 5th–8th centuries AD, when many new hillforts appeared, in most cases, along the main trades routes—rivers. During the 10th–11th centuries, some of the hillforts became military fortresses with strong fortifications (like hillforts in [[Tērvete]], [[Talsi]], [[Mežotne]]). Some of them are considered important political centres of the local peoples, who in this period were subjects of serious social political changes. That period was known for unrest and military activities, as well as power struggles between local aristocracy. Most of the Latvian hillforts were destroyed or abandoned during the [[Livonian Crusade]] in the 13th century, but some were still used in the 14th century. In total, there are about 470 hillforts in Latvia.<ref name=Bielenstein/><ref name=Moora/>

*[https://www.latvijas-pilskalni.lv Iron Age hillforts in Latvia]

=== Lithuania ===
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Piliakalniai.jpg|thumb|[[Kernavė Mounds]] complex, [[Kernavė]], part of a [[World Heritage Site]]]]
[[File:Daubariu piliakanis d1.jpg|thumb|{{ill|Daubariai Hillfort|lt|Daubarių piliakalnis}} in [[Mažeikiai district municipality]]]]
{{see also|List of hillforts in Lithuania}}
The [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] word for ''hillfort'' is {{Lang|lt|piliakalnis}} (plural {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}}), from ''{{Lang|lt|pilis}}'' (=castle) and ''{{Lang|lt|kalnas}}'' (=mountain, hill).

[[Lithuania]] has hillforts dating from the [[Bronze Age]] in the 1st millennium BC. The earliest examples in present-day Lithuania are found in the east of the country. Most of these forts were built or expanded between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, when they were used in the Dukes' Wars, and against the invasion of [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knights]] from the west. Most forts were located on the banks of a river, or a confluence where two rivers met. These fortifications were typically wooden, although some had additional stone or brick walls. The hill was usually sculpted for defensive purposes, with the top flattened and the natural slopes made steeper for defence.

During the early years of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}} played a major role in conflicts with the [[Livonian Brothers of the Sword|Livonian Order]] and the [[Teutonic Knights]]. During this period the number of ''piliakalniai'' in use decreased, but those that remained had stronger fortifications. Two main defence lines developed: one along the [[Neman River]] (against the Teutonic Order) and another along the border with [[Livonia]]. Two other lines started to form, but did not fully develop. One was to protect [[Vilnius]], the capital, and the other line in [[Samogitia]], was a major target for both orders. This territory separated the two Orders and prevented joint action between them and Pagan Lithuania.

{{As of|2017}}, according to the ''Atlas of Lithuanian Hillforts'', there were 921 objects in Lithuania identified as ''{{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}}''.<ref>''Lietuvos piliakalniai. Atlasas'', Vol. 4, 2017, [http://lad.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Atlaso_Ivadas.pdf Introduction]</ref>  Most {{Lang|lt|piliakalniai}} are located near rivers and are endangered by erosion: many have partly [[Collapse (structural)|collapsed]] as the flooded river has washed out the base of the hill. Now around 80 percent of ''piliakalniai'' are covered by forests and are hardly accessible to visitors.

*[https://www.piliakalniai.lt/ Map of hillforts in Lithuania]

=== Eastern European gords ===
[[File:Kostolec-hradisko.jpg|thumb|Hradisko [[Kostolec]], [[Piešťany]] ([[Slovakia]])]]
{{main article|Gord (archaeology)}}
In [[Russia]], [[Belarus]] and [[Poland]] Iron Age and Early Medieval hillforts are called [[Gord (archaeology)|gords]]. They were the residence of local rulers, and provided for refuge in times of war.