Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (592 page)

The name used by two pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty and nine in the 20th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Ramses II, who reigned between
c.
1290 and 1224 bc, devoted much time to protecting Egypt's boundaries against Hittite invasions, and also carried out much building work, including the construction of the fine temples at
ABU SIMBEL
. Ramses III defeated invasions by the
SEA PEOPLES
and in
c.
1170 bc the Libyans.

 
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Technically an elongated bank or wall forming the defensive boundary of an enclosure. Most ramparts are associated with external ditches that provide an extra component of the defensive structure. The construction of ramparts varies considerably from simple mounds of earth and stone (dump ramparts) to elaborate structures involving timber frameworks (box ramparts and timber-laced ramparts), and stone revetted walls. Sometimes a stone rampart may be deliberately burnt to increase its strength and stability (vitrified ramparts). The size of many prehistoric and later ramparts means that they frequently preserve substantial areas of old ground surface that reflect local conditions in the period up to the time the rampart was built.

 
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See
RAMESSES
.

 
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A multi-period enclosure site on the Berkshire Downs of south Oxfordshire overlooking the Vale of the White Horse and the middle Thames Valley. Extensively excavated between 1972 and 1975 by Richard Bradley and Ann Ellison , the site has four main structural phases and is critical for understanding the early development of hillforts in southern Britain. The earliest phase dates to the early 12th century
bc
and comprised a stone-faced dump rampart inside a chalk-cut ditch that defined a roughly oval-shaped enclosure of about 1ha. There were probably two or three entrances. In phase 2, the late 12th century
bc
, a timber-laced rampart was constructed to replace the earlier defences. In the third phase, around the beginning of the 10th century
bc
, a double palisade was built on top of the former, by this time mainly silted-up, ditch. In the final phase, dated to the 7th century
bc
, a much larger enclosure of 3.5ha was built around the hilltop in the style of early hillforts.
[Rep.: R. Bradley and A. Ellison , 1975,
Ram's Hill: a Bronze Age defended enclosure and its landscape
. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports British Series 19]

 
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See
LINEAR BOUNDARY
.

 
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A method of selecting examples to study in which every case in the target population has an equal chance of being chosen. This is usually achieved by using a random number table or number generator to select cases to examine.

 
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