A Ram's Hill type enclosure is a hilltop site dating to the Bronze Age. The boundaries of sites in this class are marked by earthworks comprising a single ditch and (generally) internal bank, cut by a number of entrances. The name of this class is derived from the type-site at Ram's Hill in Berkshire, which has witnessed extensive excavations (Bradley & Ellison 1975). Sites in this class enclose areas of between 2 - 5 ha, and often contain evidence for several phases of use. They occupy commanding positions in varied landscapes, many of which contain evidence for contemporary field systems and associated monuments.
Sites in this class have been recognised archaeologically on the basis of their earthworks, which have been recorded through aerial photography and through field survey and excavation. Materials recovered during excavation have served to confirm a date for their construction and use within the Bronze Age.
Given their location, sites in this class have often mistakenly been regarded as hillforts, a tendency which has been exacerbated by the reuse of a number of these locations during the Iron Age (Bradley & Ellison 1975). An important distinction should be drawn between Ram's Hill style enclosures and later Bronze Age hillforts such as Mam Tor. It is also necessary to separate the sites in this class from the palisaded enclosures which may supercede them (as at Ram's Hill itself). It is also important to draw a line between the sites in this class and Springfield enclosures. This division is based largely on the question of scale, since Ram's Hill enclosures cover far larger areas, and probably witnessed a wider range of activities than Springfield enclosures.
Although details of chronology are lacking, it would appear that sites in this class were constructed and used between the earlier and later Bronze Age. The range of structures and materials recovered during excavation suggest that these sites played a largely domestic role as settlements, although patterning in certain aspects of the data indicates that they may also have witnessed episodes of feasting which involved a wider community.