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Wicklow hillfort designated Ireland's earliest proto-town
The Brusselstown Ring site contains over 600 prehistoric house platforms and dates from c.1210–780 BC, making it Ireland’s earliest proto-town and largest nucleated settlement.
- Declaring the Co Wicklow hillfort in Co Wicklow, researchers at Queen's University Belfast contend it is Ireland’s earliest proto-town and the largest nucleated prehistoric settlement, near Baltinglass.
- The study team combined archaeological records with new excavations to address unanswered questions about Brusselstown Ring, where aerial surveys in 2017 and 2022 revealed more than 600 anomalies and terrestrial surveys found 288 potential hut sites.
- The excavation located 98 inner roundhouse footprints and a possible 509 between enclosures, while radiocarbon dating shows Late Bronze Age occupation c1210–780 BC with Early Iron Age reuse c750–400 BC, and a boat-shaped anomaly may be a water cistern.
- Fieldwork at Brusselstown remains ongoing and researchers say the discoveries challenge previous conceptions of prehistoric settlement organisation, revealing greater social complexity, community cohesion and regional importance.
- The project, published by Cambridge University Press and awarded the Prehistoric Society's James Dyer prize for 2025, was funded by UK Research and Innovation, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Prehistoric Society.
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Baltinglass Hillfort Cluster is Accurately Dated
A hillfort in County Wicklow (Ireland) has been declared the largest known nucleated prehistoric settlement in the British Isles by researchers from Queen’s University Belfast. The study, published by Cambridge University Press, has won the prestigious Prehistoric Society’s James Dyer prize for 2025. The research centres around a series of ancient hillforts known as the Baltinglass hillfort cluster. The research team proposes that the site is …
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Left
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
67% Left
L 67%
C 33%
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