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Causewayed enclosure is preferred to the term causewayed camp as it has been demonstrated that the sites did not necessarily serve as occupation sites.
They are often hilltop sites, encircled by between one and four segmented concentric ditches, with an internal bank, also segmented. Crossing the ditches at intervals are causeways which give the monuments their names. It appears that the ditches were excavated in sections, leaving the wide causeways intact in between. They should not be confused with segmented, or causewayed ring ditches, which are smaller and relate only to funerary activity or with hillforts which are later and had a definite defensive function.
Archaeological evidence implies that the enclosures were visited occasionally by Neolithic groups rather than being permanently occupied. It is possible that they represent a transitional period in the Neolithic before hunter-gatherer societies finally became fully settled. The presence of human remains in the banks and ditches of the enclosures has been seen as an attempt by the builders to connect their ancestors with the land and thus begin to anchor themselves to specific areas.In the 1970s the archaeologist Peter Drewett suggested seven possible functions for the sites:
(to which must be added the more recent idea that they were also used as landmarks)
Animal remains, domestic waste and potteryPottery is a form of ceramics technology, where wet clays are shaped and then dried or fired to harden them. The term is generally used only for relatively easily constructed utensils such as pots, cups, bowls, etc. and for decorative items but not for co have been found in at the sites but only limited evidence of any structures. Generally, it appears that the ditches were permitted to silt up, even while the camps were in use, and it is unlikely that they had a strong defensive purpose. It may be that the earthworks were designed to keep wild animals rather than people out. The sequential addition of second, third and fourth circuits of banks and ditches may have come about through growing populations adding to the significance of their peoples' monument over time. In some cases, they appear to have evolved into more permanent settlements.
Examples of causewayed enclosures include those at Hambledon HillHambledon Hill is a prehistoric hill fort in Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale five miles north of Blandford Forum. The hill is a Chalk outcrop separated from the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase ridge by the River Stour. Its earliest occupa, Windmill HillWindmill Hill is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure in the English county of Wiltshire, situated around 3 miles north of Avebury. It is the largest example of its type in the British Isles enclosing an area of 8. The site was first occupied around 3800 BC a, HemburyHembury is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure near Honiton in Devon. It dates to the late fifth and early fourth millennia BC and has given its name to some of the earliest Neolithic pottery in southern Britain. An Iron Age hill fort was later built on the and Coombe HillCoombe Hill or Combe Hill is the name of a hill near Jevington in the English county of East Sussex. It is the site of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and much later archaeological evidence. Built around 3200 BC, the enclosure consists of two concentric,. Some tor enclosureA tor enclosure is a prehistoric monument found in the south western part of the United Kingdom. They are large hilltop or hillslope enclosures situated close to natural rock outcrops. They are surrounded by one or more circuits of stone-built walls.s such as that at Carn BreaCarn Brea is a hilltop site near Redruth in the county of Cornwall in the United Kingdom famous for its long history of human occupation. The earliest Neolithic settlement at Carn Brea was a tor enclosure occupied between around 3700 and 3400 BC. A two ac are believed to have served a similar purpose in south western Britain.
Archaeology British archaeology