Heuneburg

The Heuneburg is a prehistoric Celtic hillfort by the river Danube in Hundersingen near Herbertingen, between Ulm and Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg, in the south of Germany, close to the modern borders with Switzerland and Austria. It is considered to be one of the most important early Celtic centres in Central Europe, particularly during the Iron Age Hallstatt culture period. Apart from the fortified citadel, there are extensive remains of settlements and burial areas spanning several centuries.
The fortified citadel measures about. It stood on a strategically positioned mountain spur that rises steeply above the Danube. It is at the centre of a fertile river plain, surrounded by rolling hill country. During the Iron Age the Heuneburg is thought to have controlled a surrounding area of over including other hilltop settlements, hamlets, villages, roads, cemeteries and cult or gathering places.
The settlement has been called "oldest city north of the alps", and has been identified with the Celtic city of Pyrene mentioned by Herodotus.

Discovery and excavations

The site was first noted in the 1820s. In 1882, recognised its importance and correctly identified it as a prehistoric fortification. He misidentified the lower fortifications as medieval. Some of the nearby burial mounds were opened in the 19th century.
Sporadic excavation on the citadel began in the 1920s. In the 1930s, the Hohmichele mound was examined. A systematic excavation programme took place from 1950 to 1979, directed successively by, Kurt Bittel, and.
Since 2003, the Heuneburg is one of the foci of a multi-disciplinary research project on early Celtic centres undertaken by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. New excavations began in 2004.

History

Although best known for its role as an important early Celtic centre from the 7th to 5th centuries BC, the Heuneburg was occupied at several other points during its history.
The first settlement on the site dates to the Middle Bronze Age during the Tumulus culture period. At this time, the main plateau was fortified with a massive ditch-and-bank enclosure, including a wooden wall. The settlement was abandoned at the beginning of the Urnfield period. This abandonment apparently did not entail a violent destruction. During the Urnfield period, there was a burial area in the location of the later Südsiedlung.
The citadel was reoccupied and refortified around 700 BC; adjacent areas were occupied at the same time, including Alte Burg and Grosse Heuneburg. The Heuneburg complex developed briskly, and by 600 BC, it was one of the key centres of power and trade in Celtic/Halstatt Southern Germany. Major changes in internal structure occurred around that time. Before 500 BC, the site suffered a major destruction, followed by a second flourish and a further destruction in the 5th century BC. It used to be assumed that the Heuneburg was abandoned by the La Tène period, but recent evidence does not fully support this view.
The conjunction of a prominent fortified site, elaborate burials, specialised craft production and trade of valuable imported goods class the Heuneburg with a small group of similar important early Celtic sites, the so-called Fürstensitze.
The strategic location of the Heuneburg led to some activity in the Middle Ages, although no permanent occupation occurred at that time.

The Celtic citadel

The main plateau on the mountain spur, 40m above the Danube and naturally defensible, was the centre of high-status occupation and of fortification in Celtic periods. It measures only but is the main visual landmark in the area. From c. 700 BC onwards, it was the centre of a large settlement.
The main settlement on the citadel underwent several changes during its existence. As the houses were built of wood and daub, and the fortifications mostly of wood and earth, they were replaced frequently. This resulted in over a dozen identifiable occupation phases, representing at least 250 years of activity.
The plateau was refortified from c. 700 BC onwards. Originally, the fortification took the form of a classic Celtic wood-and-earth wall, replaced regularly.
Around 600 BC, this was replaced by a structure without parallel in contemporary Celtic Europe. A limestone foundation supported a sun-dried mudbrick wall of c. height, probably topped by a roofed walkway, thus reaching a total height of 6 m. The wall was clad with bright white lime plaster, regularly renewed; this was necessary to prevent the northern weather from eroding the unbaked mudbrick. Towers protruded outwards from the wall at intervals. It must have been widely visible in the area, as the modern reconstruction of a section is. No other mudbrick structures are known from Celtic Central Europe at this time. It is generally accepted that this structure imitated contemporary walls in the Mediterranean region.
The wall lasted c. 70 years. After a fiery destruction around 530 BC, the settlement was defended by a murus gallicus again until a further destruction in the 5th century.
The fortification had two monumental gates, one to the west, giving access to the outer settlements, and another to the east, probably to a steep road leading directly to the Danube.
The citadel contained a regular system of streets and houses. It appears that the settlement underwent a major reorganisation after 600 BC, after which the dwellings were much more densely and regularly spaced than before. At all times, the Heuneburg houses are of remarkably large size and elaboration compared to contemporary settlements. The uniform buildings probably served as dwellings and workshops. There is evidence for an active metal industry, including a bronze workshop in the southeast corner of the citadel.
After the 530 BC destruction of the mudbrick wall, the internal arrangements underwent some changes. The workshops were moved to the north. A very large house was built in the southeast corner. This is sometimes interpreted as a Herrenhaus, i.e. the dwelling of a local ruler.
The Heuneburg yielded many finds marking it as a rich site, operating both as a local centre of production and as a hub for long-distance trade. These included a full bronze workshop, a high proportion of Greek vases, and other imported raw materials like tin and amber. Much of the exotic material dates from after 530 BC. There was also a local tradition of producing painted and decorated pottery.

Settlements outside the citadel

Recent work in and around the Heuneburg has produced groundbreaking information regarding the full extent of the settlement. It now appears that the citadel was only a small, if focal, part of the overall complex at most times.

The ''Aussensiedlung''

The Aussensiedlung was located downslope, immediately to the west and northwest of the citadel. It was probably occupied from the 7th century to the 5th century BC. It appears to have existed as a separate fortified settlement.
The Aussensiedlung covered up to 100 hectares, many times the area of the citadel proper. It appears to have consisted of separate fenced or palisaded lots, each containing a main dwelling, storage areas and much terrain for fields. It is suggested that each of the lots functioned as a separate farmstead, supporting an extended family.
A population of 5,000 to 10,000 individuals is estimated just for the Aussensiedlung. The area enclosed could never have sufficed to produce the amounts of food necessary to feed such a population.
The Giessübel mounds are erected on top of the remains of part of the Aussensiedlung and must thus postdate it.

The ''Südsiedlung''

The Südsiedlung further south appears to have been similar to the Aussensiedlung in character and chronology and may indeed have been contiguous with it.

''Vorwerke'' (lower fortifications)

The huge fortifications recognised in the 19th century, but then misinterpreted as medieval, are also part of the Celtic complex. They have been partially obliterated by erosion and ploughing. A triple system of several hundred metres of banks and ditches enclosed and subdivided the lower terrain just west of the Heuneburg proper. Since they partially overlay the Aussensiedlung houses, the walls must have been erected in a later phase. They survive to a height of over 6 m; the ditches were originally deep.

The gate

Recent excavations have revealed a monumental gate in the westernmost wall. Measuring, it was a massive construction. Its walls had a core of limestone set in a fine clay mortar, and were faced on each side with fine limestone ashlar masonry. Like the mudbrick wall on the citadel, this feature is exceptional in the Celtic world and resembles contemporary Mediterranean architecture.

Iron Age cemeteries

Several burial areas surround the Heuneburg. They consist of clusters of earthen tumuli or burial mounds. More than 50 such monuments are known in the area. Not all have been excavated. Some date from the Hallstatt period, but most are probably La Tène. The relationship between prominent fortified sites and elaborate burials is also known from other important Celtic centres, like Glauberg oppidum and grave, the Hochdorf Grave near the Hohenasperg settlement and the Vix grave near Mont Lassois.

Giessübel

The Giessübel cemetery is located northwest of the Heuneburg. It was built on top of the then abandoned west part of the Aussensiedlung. By the 19th century, four mounds remained here, each measuring c. in diameter and in height. First excavations were undertaken in the 19th century, but more systematic work took place between the 1950s and 1980s.

Grave 1

This mound contained a rectangular wooden chamber. Its main occupant was a man aged around 50. There were also remains of two women. It had been robbed in antiquity, but modern archeological finds nevertheless included weapons, gold and bronze attachments for garments, and some amber plaques that probably once adorned a kline imported from the Mediterranean. Twenty further burials were later placed in and on the same mound.