Maiden Castle Iron Age Hillfort LiDAR Model

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Maiden Castle sits atop a low hill, nestled between the river valleys of the Frome and South Winterborne. Located just 2.5km south west of Dorchester in Dorset, this impressive multivallate hillfort has been partially unearthed by Edward Cunnington (1884), Sir Mortimer Wheeler & Tessa Verney Wheeler (1934-37) and Niall Sharples (1985-6). The earliest signs of human activity on the site date back to the Neolithic period, where a causewayed enclosure and an extraordinary Bank Barrow were constructed. These structures eventually gave way to subsequent phases of Iron Age hillfort defensive circuits, which enclosed a significant Iron Age settlement occupying the hilltop between 600 BC and the first century AD. Maiden Castle may have been targeted by the Roman army in the 40s AD, although the evidence remains inconclusive for now. Thousands of stone sling stones have been discovered in pits near the ramparts, hinting at a fierce battle. A Romano-Celtic temple was built on the site in the 4th century AD, after the Iron Age settlement had been abandoned and the area was put to agricultural use during the Medieval period.