Duropolis

Duropolis stands in the Dorset countryside near Winterborne Kingston. Archaeologists uncovered the first traces of this Iron Age settlement in 2008. Miles Russell and Paul Cheetham led the dig that revealed a planned town covering 32,000 square metres. The settlement dates to about 100 BCE, making it older than Silchester by seven decades. Its name comes from the Durotriges, the Celtic tribe who lived in the area. Nearby Maiden Castle was abandoned around the same time, suggesting the two sites were linked. The site shows a matrilocal society where women stayed in their ancestral homes and men moved in after marriage. Lara Cassidy from Trinity College Dublin found maternal genetic patterns in 57 Durotriges people that confirmed this system. Two banjo enclosures lie north of the main settlement, one containing 23 burials from the same period. Excavations between 2009 and 2013 uncovered these graves alongside roundhouse remains. Sixteen roundhouses have been excavated so far, with geophysical surveys indicating at least 150 more structures once stood there. Animal burials include a two-headed hybrid made from a sheep’s skull and a bull’s rear, hinting at myths shared with ancient Mesopotamian and Greek cultures. The finds suggest a complex urban life before Roman times. Visitors can walk among the exposed foundations and imagine the Iron Age community that once thrived here.