Cadbury Castle, Somerset
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 Location of the site in Somerset
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| Alternate name | Camalet |
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| Location | Near South Cadbury and Yeovil, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°1′26.76″N 2°31′54.48″W / 51.0241000°N 2.5318000°WCoordinates: 51°1′26.76″N 2°31′54.48″W / 51.0241000°N 2.5318000°W |
| Type | Hillfort |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Some damage |
Cadbury Castle, formerly known as Camalet, is a Bronze and Iron Age hillfort in the civil parish of South Cadbury in the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument and has been associated with King Arthur's legendary court at "Camelot".
The hillfort is formed by a 7.28 hectares (18.0 acres) plateau surrounded by ramparts on the surrounding slopes of the limestone Cadbury Hill. The site has been excavated in the late 19th and early 20th century by James Bennett and Harold St George Gray. More recent examination of the site was conducted in the 1960s by Leslie Alcock and since 1992 by the South Cadbury Environs Project. These have revealed artifacts from human occupation and use from the Neolithic through the Bronze and Iron Ages. The site was reused by the Roman forces and again from c. 470 until some time after 580. In the 11th century, it temporarily housed a Saxon mint. Evidence of various buildings at the site has been unearthed, including a "Great Hall", round and rectangular house foundations, metalworking, and a possible sequence of small rectangular temples or shrines.
Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron ages, around the start of the 1st millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in prehistoric Britain and their purpose has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places from the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze and, as a result, trading patterns shifted. The old elites lost their economic and social status and power passed into the hands of a new group of people.
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