Vitrified forts are stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected to vitrification through heat.[1] It was long thought that these structures were unique to Scotland, but they have since been identified in several other parts of western and northern Europe.
Vitrified forts are generally situated on hills offering strong defensive positions. Their form seems to have been determined by the contour of the flat summits which they enclose. The walls vary in size, a few being upwards of 12 feet (3.7 m) high, and are so broad that they present the appearance of embankments. Weak parts of the defence are strengthened by double or triple walls, and occasionally vast lines of ramparts, composed of large blocks of unhewn and unvitrified stones, envelop the vitrified centre at some distance from it.[2] The walls themselves are termed vitrified ramparts.[3]
- ^ "Vitrification of Hill Forts". Retrieved 24 January 2008.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Munro, Robert (1911). "Vitrified Forts". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 149–150.
- ^ Darvill, Timothy (2008). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, p. 376. ISBN 978-0-19-953404-3.
