Sutton Common in South Yorkshire is one of the best-known Iron Age
multivallate sites in lowland Britain. This volume describes the results
of the large-scale excavations undertaken there between 1998 and 2003,
which have provided unparalleled insights into the function and meaning
of this 4th-century BC 'marsh-fort'. Sutton Common is described as a
place where the social identity of the local community was reinforced
through the construction of the physical representation of the idea of
community, using a bank-and-ditch arrangement that resembles the
defences used elsewhere, particularly at hillforts. No houses were found
within the enclosure, but some 150 four-post structures were excavated,
many containing deposits of charred grain in one or two of their
postholes. This well-dated site makes significant contributions to the
debates on prehistoric enclosure, cosmology, food storage, and mortuary
practices in prehistoric Britain and Europe.