Fin Cop is a hill and an associated

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Monsal Dale Monsal Dale is a valley in Derbyshire, England, in the White Peak limestone area of the Peak District National Park. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) (1) and part of a Europe-wide network ...

, close to

Ashford in the Water Ashford-in-the-Water is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. The village is on the River Wye, north-west of Bakewell. It is known for the quarrying of Ashford Black Marble (a form of limestone), and for the ma ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. The fort shows evidence of hurried construction, indicating a defensive response to a real threat, rather than the more usual assumption that such forts were a display of status and prestige. The

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, along with an adjacent bowl barrow, lime kiln and quarry, constitutes a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Fin Cop Digital Terrain Model

In 2011 excavations unearthed a

mass burial A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

containing only women and children, the first such segregated burial in Iron Age Britain. Some animal bones were also found, suggesting the inhabitants kept livestock. The remains were relatively well preserved due to the limestone geology of the hill. Carbon dating of the site suggests it was constructed between 440BC and 390BC.

References

External links

* * Hill forts in Derbyshire Mountains and hills of Derbyshire Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Archaeological sites in Derbyshire Lime kilns in the United Kingdom {{UK-archaeology-stub