Editing Fortification (section)

===Early uses===
[[File:Han Tomb Brick - 3.jpg|thumb|[[Han dynasty]] tomb brick showing gate towers]]

Defensive fences for protecting humans and domestic animals against predators was used long before the appearance of writing and began "perhaps with primitive man blocking the entrances of his [[Cave|caves]] for security from large [[Carnivore|carnivores]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=A. Wade |first1=Dale |title=THE USE OF FENCES FOR PREDATOR DAMAGE CONTROL |url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/188047270 |website=University of Nebraska - Lincoln |publisher=Wade, Dale A., "THE USE OF FENCES FOR PREDATOR DAMAGE CONTROL" (1982). Proceedings of the Tenth Vertebrate Pest Conference (1982). 47. |access-date=19 September 2024}}</ref>

From very early history to modern times, [[Defensive wall|walls]] have been a necessity for many cities. [[Amnya Fort]] in western Siberia has been described by archeologists as one of the oldest known fortified settlements, as well as the northernmost Stone Age fort.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piezonka |first1=Henny |last2=Chairkina |first2=Natalya |last3=Dubovtseva |first3=Ekaterina |last4=Kosinskaya |first4=Lyubov |last5=Meadows |first5=John |last6=Schreiber |first6=Tanja |date=December 1, 2023 |title=The world's oldest-known promontory fort: Amnya and the acceleration of hunter-gatherer diversity in Siberia 8000 years ago |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/worlds-oldestknown-promontory-fort-amnya-and-the-acceleration-of-huntergatherer-diversity-in-siberia-8000-years-ago/90559E4105F93528A6552B36C7236259 |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |volume=97 |issue=396|pages=1381–1401 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2023.164 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In Bulgaria, near the town of [[Provadia]] a walled fortified settlement today called [[Solnitsata]] starting from 4700 BC had a diameter of about {{convert|300|ft}}, was home to 350 people living in two-story houses, and was encircled by a fortified wall. The huge walls around the settlement, which were built very tall and with stone blocks which are {{convert|6|ft|sp=us}} high and {{convert|4.5|ft|sp=us}} thick, make it one of the earliest walled settlements in Europe<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49645182 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402235426/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49645182 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 2, 2020 |title=Bulgaria claims to find Europe's oldest town  |work=NBC News |date=2012-11-01 |access-date=2013-05-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20156681 |title= Europe's oldest prehistoric town unearthed in Bulgaria |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2012-10-31 |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611222256/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20156681 |archive-date=2013-06-11 |work=BBC News }}</ref> but it is younger than the walled town of [[Sesklo]] in Greece from 6800 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greek-thesaurus.gr/neolithic-settlements-organization.html |title=Organization of neolithic settlements:house construction |publisher=Greek-thesaurus.gr |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722215151/http://www.greek-thesaurus.gr/neolithic-settlements-organization.html |archive-date=2013-07-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2500 |title=Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism &#124; Sesklo |publisher=Odysseus.culture.gr |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102060412/http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2500 |archive-date=2013-01-02 }}</ref>

[[Uruk]] in ancient [[Sumer]] ([[Mesopotamia]]) is one of the world's oldest known [[walled cities]]. The Ancient Egyptians also built fortresses on the frontiers of the [[Nile Valley]] to protect against invaders from adjacent territories, as well as circle-shaped mud brick walls around their cities. Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today's archeologists. A massive prehistoric stone wall surrounded the ancient temple of [[Ness of Brodgar]] 3200 BC in [[Scotland]]. Named the "Great Wall of Brodgar" it was {{convert|4|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=on}} thick and {{convert|4|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=on}} tall. The wall had some symbolic or ritualistic function.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Ness of Brodgar Excavations |url=http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/excavation-background-2/the-great-wall-of-brodgar/ |title=The Ness of Brodgar Excavations – The 'Great Wall of Brodgar' |publisher=Orkneyjar.com |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428094607/http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/excavation-background-2/the-great-wall-of-brodgar/ |archive-date=2013-04-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Alex Whitaker |url=http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/scotlandness.htm |title=The Ness of Brodgar |publisher=Ancient-wisdom.co.uk |access-date=2013-05-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501034018/http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/scotlandness.htm |archive-date=2013-05-01 }}</ref> The [[ancient Assyrians|Assyrians]] deployed large labor forces to build new [[palaces]], temples and defensive walls.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture |first1=Banister |last1=Fletcher |first2=Dan |last2=Cruickshank |date=1996 |publisher=Architectural Press |isbn=0-7506-2267-9 |page=20}}</ref>