From northern Scotland to southern Iberia the enclosures around hill- and promontory-forts are the most conspicuous component of the Iron Age archaeological record. Ian Ralston looks at their construction and reconstruction and at the architecture of banks, walls, ramparts and ditches, gateways and ancillary features. He examines the placing of these fortifications in the landscape and their effectiveness as hill-fort defences in war. He also considers these enclosures as signs and symbols. The work is completed with a selective gazetteer.