Editing Maiden Castle, Dorset (section)

==Decline==
Across Britain, many hill forts fell out of use in the 100&nbsp;years around the turn of the millennium.<ref name="Cunliffe 1983, p. 74">Cunliffe (1983), p.&nbsp;74.</ref> It has been suggested that this, and the contemporary change in material culture of the Britons (such as the introduction of coinage and cemeteries and an increase in craft industries), was caused by increased interaction with the [[Roman Empire]]. The developing industries may have resulted in a shift away from the hill fort elites, whose power was based on agriculture.<ref>Sharples (1991a), pp.&nbsp;116,&nbsp;123.</ref> Such change is not as obvious in Dorset as it is in the rest of Britain, but there is a trend for abandonment of hill forts in the area and a proliferation of small undefended farmsteads, indicating a migration of the population.<ref name="Sharples 116">Sharples (1991a), p.&nbsp;116.</ref>

Around 100&nbsp;BC, Maiden Castle's organised street pattern was replaced by more random habitation. At the same time, the western half of the site was abandoned and occupation was concentrated in the east of the fort.<ref name="Sharples 116"/> Also during the Late Iron Age, some of the earthworks around the eastern gateway were filled in and settlement expanded beyond the entrance, and into the areas between the banks. Excavations by archaeologist [[Mortimer Wheeler]] in this area revealed several houses, storage pits, an area used for iron working, and a cemetery.<ref>Sharples (1991a), p.&nbsp;117.</ref> On the industrial site, more than {{cvt|62|kg}} of iron slag was discovered in an area of {{cvt|30|sqm}}, and it is believed the site produced around {{cvt|200|kg}} of iron. The amount of ore required could not have been supplied by local sources, so most likely originated from areas of specialist iron production such as the [[Weald]], south west England, and Wales. Maiden Castle is one of the most important iron production sites from the Late Iron Age in southern Britain.<ref>Sharples (1991a), p.&nbsp;118.</ref>

There is little evidence for burial in the Iron Age until late on in the period, and it is believed that the prevalent method of disposing of a body was by [[excarnation]]. Wheeler's excavations on the cemetery in the eastern gateway revealed 52&nbsp;burials, but only part of the cemetery was investigated, so the total number of burials is likely to be at least double this figure. One area of the cemetery featured burials of 14&nbsp;people who had died in violent circumstances,<ref>Sharples (1991a), p.&nbsp;125.</ref> including one body with a Roman catapult bolt in its back. Wheeler used the "war cemetery", as he described it, as evidence of a Roman attack on Maiden Castle.<ref>Sharples (1991a), pp.&nbsp;119–121.</ref>