Danebury is an Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) north-west of Winchester (grid reference SU323376).

Built in the 6th century BC, the fort was used for almost 500 years, during a period when the number of hillforts in Wessex greatly increased.

[3][4][5] The Scheduled Monument is surrounded by a Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated as Danebury Hill.

[11] In the late 1960s, Barry Cunliffe decided to examine a single hillfort and its surrounding territory in an attempt to shed light on Iron Age society, its politics, and population.

Over the twenty seasons archaeologists spent examining the site, they looked at the defences and the gateway, and excavated 57% of the interior, where the remains of wattle and timber houses were discovered.

[15] There is no historical record of events in Iron Age Britain, so archaeological investigation is the only way to reconstruct the history of Danebury and other forts.

[18] When Danebury was built in the 6th century BC, it coincided with the construction of several other hillforts in the Wessex region, all of a similar size and layout.

[23] Although the rampart and ditch were in use for a long time, during this period the east gateway was remodelled twice, making it longer, and creating earthworks on each side of the approach.

[25] Also in this period, the southern part of the fort became populated with four- and six-post structures, probably granaries, replacing the earlier roundhouses.

Territory commanded by Danebury included areas of forest, pasture in the uplands, and access to water sources in the form of the River Test.

Cunliffe interprets the ramparts as essentially defensive, although he concedes that they may have been a means of displaying wealth and power, as Danebury would have been visible for miles around.

The complex gateways support the view that the site was militaristic; the long, curving east entrance maximised the time it would have taken for attackers to enter the fort and would have allowed defenders on the ramparts more time to hurl missiles, while the southwest entrance narrowed, forcing attackers together and causing disarray.

[35] The burning of the gates was probably the result of an attack, and the charnel pits dating from the end of the intense period of Danebury's occupation contain about 100 bodies, many with injuries that appear to have been inflicted by weapons such as spears and swords.

There are traces of craft and industry on a large scale, and use of the site by a social elite is indicated by the presence of shrines in the centre of the fort.

[note 1][40] The meteorite was originally held by Oxford University but in 2014 was transferred to the Hampshire County Council Arts and Museums Service.