Heuneburg is one of the best known hillforts in central Europe, and, according to the latest research, it is one of the earliest of urban centers north of the Alps.
3D reconstruction of the Heuneburg at the height of its prosperity in the first half of the sixth century BC. © Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg
The hillfort of Heuneburg perched above the Danube river in southern Germany has been extensively excavated, and its ancient history--in use for over 1,000 years--well-established.
But what has been intimated, but not understood in detail until the publication in the journal Antiquity this week, is that during the early Iron Age (~600 BC) Heuneburg was the centerpiece of an urban settlement that included a population of 5,000, half-dozen additional fortified settlements and hundreds of farmsteads within an area of 100 hectares. That makes Heuneburg the largest and earliest settlement north of the Alps known to date.
- Read more about Heuneburg
- Hallstatt Culture
Fernández-Götz M, and Krausse D. 2013. Rethinking Early Iron Age urbanisation in Central Europe: the Heuneburg site and its archaeological environment. Antiquity 87:473-487.
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