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Concept
Heuneburg
Summary
The Heuneburg is a prehistoric 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 40 m 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 1,000 km2, 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.
The site was first noted in the 1820s. In 1882, de 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 (see below). A systematic excavation programme took place from 1950 to 1979, directed successively by de, Kurt Bittel, de and de.
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.
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 (15th to 12th century BC) during the Tumulus culture period.
Official source
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