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ringfort
Sign in to savethumb|The ringfort at Rathrar in County Roscommon, Ireland thumb|The in County Donegal, Ireland, is one of the more impressive stone-walled ringforts.
Article
27 sectionsContents
- Distribution
- Ireland
- England and Wales
- Scandinavia
- Chronology
- Theories
- Dating from the Iron Age
- Use continuing into the later medieval period
- 7th to 10th centuries
- Functions
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Defence
- Status
- Legends and folklore concerning ringforts and rounds
- List of notable ringforts
- Ireland
- Cornwall (Cornish rounds)
- Denmark (Viking ring fortresses)
- Sweden
- Germany
- Estonia
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading/sources
- External links
thumb|The ringfort at Rathrar in County Roscommon, Ireland thumb|The in County Donegal, Ireland, is one of the more impressive stone-walled ringforts.
Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales and in Cornwall, where they are called rounds. Ringforts come in many sizes and may be made of stone or earth. Earthen ringforts would have been marked by a circular rampart (a bank and ditch), often with a stakewall. Both stone and earthen ringforts would generally have had at least one building inside.