Content:
Hill forts can be defined as archaeological sites with cultural layers and/or with visible traces of fortifications. Many of these sites have been known as archaeological monuments for a long time, but toponyms on historical maps, as well as oral lore recorded in archives can serve as a basis for discovering new, formerly unknown strongholds.
In addition to „real“ hill forts there are, however, sites without definite archaeological features but with folkloric evidence referring to a former fortified place. There exist place names characteristic of hill forts, as well as legends of stronghold or „town“ sunken into the hill. Toponyms may also indirectly refer to the vicinity of an unknown hill fort (e.g. „hill fort lake“, „hill fort swamp“ etc.).
Due to the lack of archaeological evidence these sites without archaeological features have traditionally not been regarded as hill forts. However, toponyms may hold memories of very short-time or temporarily used strongholds or reflect cases in which weak cultural layers have been eroded to the slopes due to long-term ploughing. The presentation discusses the topic on the basis of source materials from Estonia.
Keywords:
hill forts, toponyms, oral lore, missing cultural layers