View source for Promontory fort

{{short description|Fortification, usually dating from the Iron Age}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Dunbeg-Promontory-Fort-2012.JPG|thumb|right|[[Dunbeg Fort]], a [[promontory]] fort below Mount Eagle, [[Dingle Peninsula]], [[County Kerry]], Ireland]]
A '''[[promontory]] fort''' is a [[fortification|defensive structure]] located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the [[Rampart (fortification)|ramparts]] needed.

The oldest known promontory fort is Amnya I in Siberia which was established as a fortified site in the late 7th millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Piezonka |first1=Henny |last2=Chairkina |first2=Natalya |last3=Dubovtseva |first3=Ekaterina |last4=Kosinskaya |first4=Lyubov |last5=Meadows |first5=John |last6=Schreiber |first6=Tanja |date=2023 |title=The world's oldest-known promontory fort: Amnya and the acceleration of hunter-gatherer diversity in Siberia 8000 years ago |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003598X23001643/type/journal_article |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=97 |issue=396 |pages=1381–1401 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2023.164 |issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free }}</ref> Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the [[Iron Age]]. They are mainly found in [[Ireland]], [[Brittany]], the [[Orkney Islands]], the [[Isle of Man]], [[Devon]], the [[Channel Islands]] and [[Cornwall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/a2m/iron_age/cc_menu.htm|title=Access to Monuments|website=www.historic-cornwall.org.uk|date=11 December 2020 }}</ref>

==Ireland==
[[File:Dunbeg Fort - Dingle Peninsula - Co. Kerry - Ireland.JPG|thumb|right|Entrance to [[Dunbeg Fort]]]]
Only a few Irish promontory forts have been excavated and most date to the [[Iron Age]], though some, like [[Dunbeg Fort]] ([[County Kerry]]) might have originated in the [[Bronze Age]]. Others, like [[Dalkey Island]] ([[County Dublin]]) contain imported Eastern Mediterranean pottery and have been reoccupied and changed in the early [[medieval]] period. Some, like [[Doonmore]] (near Dingle, County Kerry) are associated with the Middle Ages. Dunbeg contains an early medieval [[corbel]]led stone hut ([[clochán]]).

==Isle of Man==
On the [[Isle of Man]], promontory forts are found particularly on the rocky slate [[headlands]] of the south.  Four out of more than twenty have been excavated and several, especially in [[Santon, Isle of Man|Santon]], can be visited using the [[Raad ny Foillan]] coastal footpath. All have a [[Rampart (fortification)|rampart]] on their vulnerable landward side, and excavations at [[Cronk ny Merriu]] have shown that access to the fort was via a strongly built gate.

The [[Norsemen|Scandinavians]] who arrived in Mann in the eighth and ninth centuries AD sometimes re-used these Iron Age promontory forts, often obliterating the old domestic quarters with their characteristic rectangular houses; the fine example at [[Cronk ny Merriu]] has been used as the basis of the reconstruction in the [[House of Manannan]] museum in [[Peel, Isle of Man|Peel]].

==Devon and Cornwall==
[[File:The Rumps - geograph.org.uk - 1520908.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Rumps]] in North Cornwall]]
[[Promontory Forts of Cornwall|Cornish promontory forts]] can be found all along the coast of [[Penwith]]. [[Maen Castle]], near to [[Land's End]] is one of the oldest, having been dated to around 500 BC. They are also found in other districts, e.g. [[The Rumps]] near Padstow and [[Dodman Point]] on the southern Cornish coast as well as [[Rame Head]] close to Plymouth. In Devon, [[Burgh Island]] and [[Bolt Tail]]<ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=440918|access-date=3 October 2015}}</ref> are located on the south coast and [[Embury Beacon]] and [[Hillsborough, Devon|Hillsborough]] on the north coast.
The famous site at [[Tintagel]] may be a rare example of promontory fort whose occupation continued into the post Roman and from there into later periods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/tintagel-castle/history-and-research/history/|title=- English Heritage|website=www.english-heritage.org.uk}}</ref>

==Brittany==
[[Caesar]]'s ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Commentarii de bello Gallico]]'' describes the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]] in southern [[Armorica]] – a powerful sea-faring people allied with the southern British during the war of 56 BC – as living in clifftop [[oppidum|oppida]]. Their capital was Darioritum, on the [[Gulf of Morbihan]], now modern [[Vannes]]/Gwened.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[Wikisource:The Gallic War (Caesar)/Book 3#8|3:8]]</ref> The Veneti had close trade ties with southwestern Britain.{{clarify|date=November 2015}} When they were attacked by the Romans in [[Brittany]], [[Julius Caesar]] reports that Cornwall sent them military aid.

==Channel Islands==
There are a few examples of promontory forts on the Island of Jersey, which includes [[Le Pinacle]], Le Câtel de Rozel, and Le Câtel de Lecq. All of these were located on headlands on the north and north-east of the Island, given the strong natural defences that exist on those parts of the Island. Remains of an Iron Age fort were located on the site of [[Mont Orgueil]] Castle to the east of the island as well as materials from the [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]].

==See also==
*{{annotated link|Hillfort}}
*{{annotated link|Pā}}, many of which were situated on peninsulas or promontories
*{{annotated link|Promontory}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* Nancy Edwards, ''The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland'' (London, Batsford 1990).
* [http://www.gov.im/mnh/heritage/story/promforts.xml Manx National Heritage - Promontory Forts ]
* [http://www.gov.im/mnh/heritage/monuments/cronknymerriu.xml Cronk ny Merriu MNH]
* [http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/castles/maen-castle.htm Maen Castle] Retrieved 14 May 2007.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120312110327/http://www.pretanicworld.com/monuments.html Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures]

{{Hillforts}}{{Fortifications}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Ireland]]
[[Category:Fortifications in the Isle of Man]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Ireland]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Forts]]
[[Category:Hill forts]]
[[Category:Fortifications by type]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites]]