01/10/2026
IRELAND’S LARGEST PREHISTORIC HILLFORT SETTLEMENT REVEALED
Archaeologists have uncovered extraordinary evidence of what is now believed to be the largest prehistoric hillfort settlement ever identified in Ireland or Britain. At Brusselstown Ring in County Wicklow, researchers have detected more than six hundred suspected house platforms, revealing a densely populated community unlike anything previously known from the period.
The hillfort forms part of the Baltinglass cluster and shows signs of long term activity stretching from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age. Recent surveys and test excavations confirm that the main settlement flourished during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, with homes of different sizes occupied at the same time. Interestingly, there is no clear sign of social hierarchy, suggesting a broadly equal community.
Even more intriguing is the discovery of a possible water cistern, which could be the first ever identified within an Irish hillfort. Together, these findings point to early proto urban living in Ireland centuries earlier than once thought.
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📷 Image: Antiquity (2025)
🔗 Full article: https://phys.org/news/2025-12-scientists-uncovered-evidence-ireland-largest.html
