Hoarding, or brattice, was developed to cover dead ground, or blind spots at the base, or foot, of the curtain wall. A covered wooden gallery positioned in front of the battlements with holes in the floor, the hoard allowed defenders to observe and fire upon attackers. In the later Middle Ages, hoarding evolved into stone machicolations. Sometimes machicolations were used symbolically to recreate a castellated effect on unfortified structures.