Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
French to English translations [PRO] Archaeology / Roman architecture
French term or phrase:barrant l'éperon rocheux
Hello
From visitor information describing Roman ruins:
"Notez le caractère rectiligne de la muraille qui était flanquée de tourelles barrant l'éperon rocheux."
At first I thought the "éperon rocheux" was a rocky outcrop (this is on the Brittany coast), in which case I couldn't see what "barrer" was getting at. Research then turned up a definition of an "éperon barré" - "Un éperon barré est un promontoire élevé et protégé par un rempart de terre et un fossé (du Néolithique au Moyen Age)" - which has confused me more.
Explanation: A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age. They are mainly found in Ireland, the Isle of Man and Cornwall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promontory_fort
PROMONTORY FORT
SN A defensive enclosure created by constructing ONE OR MORE LINES OF RAMPARTS ACROSS A NECK OF LAND, in order to defend, or restrict access to, a spur or promontory, either inland or on the coast. http://thesaurus.english-heritage.org.uk/thesaurus_term.asp?...
The surviving defenses of this promontory fort consist of a set of banks-and-ditches which now form an obstacle to the thirteenth green. The interior, less than 0.5 hectares in extent, is archaeologically featureless and includes much outcropping bedrock. http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/sites/forts/clea...
An inland promontory fort on spur above marshy valley. Ditch rampart on ONE VULNERABLE SIDE. Small timber framed round house. A bronze brooch was found ... www.manxarch.iofm.net/djr2.htm
Nettlecombe Tout Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle The top destination for Megaliths and ... and the SPUR IS CUT ACROSS AT THE SOUTH-EAST BY A BANK AND DITCH. ... www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=10844
This is it! Thanks a million (Mark too). The French could benefit from rewording IMHO! Géoportail is great, I could waste, sorry, spend a lot of time on it! 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
This is what the "mairie de Brest's web site says: Simple mur flanqué de tours, érigé par une légion romaine suivant le principe de l’éperon barré, le castellum antique fut renforcé inlassablement, - so it seems to follow your research.
the main body of hill and is separated in the same way from a spur (to which attackers might have access out of range of fire from the fortifications). You have context to know, presumably. Name of site?
Mark's answer below looks good, particularly since it would cover both the situation where the fortification is on the spur, with a wall and ditch separating it from the main body of the hill, or whatever, AND the situation where the fortification is on
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
3 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
closing off the rocky outcrop
Explanation: is how I read it - a fortification
Mark Nathan Local time: 18:02 Works in field Native speaker of: English
5 hrs confidence:
to form a promontory fort
Explanation: A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age. They are mainly found in Ireland, the Isle of Man and Cornwall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promontory_fort
PROMONTORY FORT
SN A defensive enclosure created by constructing ONE OR MORE LINES OF RAMPARTS ACROSS A NECK OF LAND, in order to defend, or restrict access to, a spur or promontory, either inland or on the coast. http://thesaurus.english-heritage.org.uk/thesaurus_term.asp?...
The surviving defenses of this promontory fort consist of a set of banks-and-ditches which now form an obstacle to the thirteenth green. The interior, less than 0.5 hectares in extent, is archaeologically featureless and includes much outcropping bedrock. http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/sites/forts/clea...
An inland promontory fort on spur above marshy valley. Ditch rampart on ONE VULNERABLE SIDE. Small timber framed round house. A bronze brooch was found ... www.manxarch.iofm.net/djr2.htm
Nettlecombe Tout Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle The top destination for Megaliths and ... and the SPUR IS CUT ACROSS AT THE SOUTH-EAST BY A BANK AND DITCH. ... www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=10844
xxxBourth Local time: 18:02 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 57
Grading comment
This is it! Thanks a million (Mark too). The French could benefit from rewording IMHO! Géoportail is great, I could waste, sorry, spend a lot of time on it!
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
