The Dinas Powys hillfort is an Iron Age hillfort near Dinas Powys, Glamorgan, Wales.[1] It is just one of several thousand hillforts to have been constructed around Great Britain during the British Iron Age, for reasons that are still debatable. The main fort at Dinas Powys was constructed on the northernmost point of the hill in either the third or 2nd century BCE, with two further constructs, known as the Southern Banks, being built further down on the southern end of the hill in the following 1st century BCE. It appears that occupation at the site ceased during the period of Roman Britain, but was re-inhabited by an Early Mediaeval settlement in the 5th century CE, who constructed further additions to the fort. The site was subsequently excavated by a team of archaeologists led by Leslie Alcock from 1954 through to 1958.
The hillfort, which was called the dinas (city or fortress) by Welsh speaking locals, is probably the reason the neighbouring village was named Dinas Powys, and archaeologists excavating the site in the mid 20th century decided to rename the hillfort after the settlement, with excavator Leslie Alcock remarking that "it therefore seemed appropriate by a kind of back-formation to restore the village name to [the fortifications]".[1]