Come join the Ecologies of Governance team, working with Andy Seaman, Duncan Wright, Rich Madgwick and me on our AHRC project. 30 month Palaeoecology postdoc to work on our five case study landscapes based at QUB - Archaeology at Queen's www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQJ146/p...

🚨 Call for Papers! XXI UISPP Word Congress, Poznán, Poland. 31 Aug - 4 Sept 2026. Our ( @jodarchaeology.bsky.social ) session proposal focusing on #protourbanism in #prehistoric #europe has been accepted! Register and submit your paper topic for our session here: uispp2026.syskonf.pl

Wicklow hill fort identified as oldest prehistoric ‘proto-town’ in Ireland

A hillfort in Co Wicklow is believed to be Ireland's earliest proto-town, pre-dating Viking settlements, researchers at Queen's University Belfast have said.

Brusselstown Ring is one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, enclosed by ramparts that encompass both the hill itself and the Neolithic enclosure of Spinans Hill 1 #HillfortsWednesday Hillforts that span more than a single hilltop are incredibly rare. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Our recent work at Burnswark hillfort was included in @digitscotland.bsky.social top archaeological discoveries in Scotland 2025!! We found a large settlement within the fort, and remodelling of the ramparts after a Roman attack @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social @glasgow.ac.uk #HillfortsWednesday

More on the significance of our UKRI QUADRAT DTP funded excavations at Brusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow (Ire.) @jodarchaeology.bsky.social @lindaboutoille.bsky.social @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social @quadratdtp.bsky.social @ukri.org @antiquity.ac.uk bbc.com/news/article...

Over 600 suspected house platforms have been identified at Brusselstown Ring hillfort in County Wicklow, marking it as the largest known prehistoric nucleated settlement in Britain and Ireland. doi.org/hbhgtd

Archaeology work at Burnswark hillfort involving UofG staff & students led by @jodarchaeology.bsky.social, @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social and University of Manchester are included in @digitscotland.bsky.social top Scottish archaeological discoveries in 2025 . ⛏️ Read more: gla.ac/4p4BFHQ

Really excited that our book on Baltinglass and the Prehistoric Hillforts of Ireland has been nominated for Book of the Year in the 2026 Current Archaeology Awards! The only hillfort on show in this category, so please, all of you #HillfortsWednesday crew, get voting! www.archaeology.co.uk/vote

The hillfort of Brusselstown Ring, Co. Wicklow 🇮🇪 annotated with the locations of new test trenches #HillfortsWednesday Excavation and aerial survey suggest the presence of hundreds of roundhouses, indicating a huge prehistoric settlement at the site. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

I LOVE the fact that these 'hillforts' are now starting to look more like citadels, with upper 'cities' and lower 'cities'. The old polis model!

Hot off the press, our new paper on the incredible Late Bronze Age nucleated settlement at Brusselstown Ring hillfort, Co. Wicklow, Ireland is freely available to read (doi.org/10.15184/aqy...). @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social @antiquity.ac.uk

NEW Have archaeologists identified the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain? Survey at Brusselstown Ring, one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, found evidence for potentially hundreds of occupied roundhouses! Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology