Excavations at Chalbury were begun in the summer of 1939, and a second season was planned for 1940. This was postponed owing to the outbreak of war, but the uncertainty which hangs over archaeology in the future makes immediate publication of an interim report desirable, although papers dealing with the skeletal material and kindred subjects must be postponed till after the close of hostilities. The work was a sequel to the excavation of Maiden Castle, and was undertaken as part of a scheme for making cuttings in selected Dorset hill-forts with a view to ascertaining their cultural relationships. Poundbury, Dorchester, was scheduled to be dug in the spring of 1939, and Chalbury, only three miles from Maiden Castle, was next upon the list.