When is a hillfort not a hillfort? As ever with Time Team, there is no straight answer. Dinmore Hill had been recorded as an Iron Age hillfort because a small section of bank and ditch is visible in woods on the top of the hill. We came to see if we could locate any more of the bank and ditch and find out what might have been enclosed on the top of the hill. There was also the question of whether the site actually qualified to be a proper Iron Age hillfort, or whether it was just a small settlement, or a defended farmstead, or a fortified hill, or a...well, you see the problem.
It soon became clear that the bank and ditch did indeed go around the hill, but we couldn't find anything in the interior. Not to worry though, excavation within most Iron Age hillforts shows no features, this is known as negative evidence! Besides, the enormous ditch and turf bank looked pretty convincing as characteristically large Iron Age defences. It's just a shame we couldn't find any dating evidence in the ditch.
On Day Two our search for finds at the bottom of the ditch was cut short by torrential rain. The trench quickly became a mudslide and we decided to abandon it for safety reasons. Our fears were proved right when, the next morning, we arrived to find the entire side of the trench had collapsed.
Despite the weather I wasn't left idle, I was off to the forge to learn the ancient art of sword smithing - Iron Age style. Steve Bluett, my teacher, had a currency bar ready. A currency bar is a bar of iron bent over at the top, and it is thought that these were sold to smiths as raw material to be forged into weapons or tools. The bend at the top proved that the iron was pure and malleable, as poor quality iron would snap.
Making the sword involved hammering the blade whilst keeping it flat and symmetrical. Steve made it look easy, but red-hot iron is surprisingly soft and one ill-judged strike could knock the whole thing out of shape, which would be difficult to rectify. It was hot and sweaty work in the forge, but the occasional glance through the window at the continuing downpour reminded me that I was better off inside.
There is something very macho about forging your own sword from iron in front of a blazing furnace. The finished article was razor sharp and beautifully decorated. It really gave me a sense of the respect and reverence that Iron Age warriors had for their weapons. As for the site, I think we decided that it was an Iron Age hillfort. Now we just need to get the archaeologists to agree what a hillfort actually is...
