Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 68 2002 pp 41-59

Taking the High GroundContinental Hill-forts in Bronze Age Contexts

By MARGARITA PRIMAS1

This paper was given as the Europa lecture for 2001

Ditches walls and palisades are extant in continental Europe from as early as the Neolithic but importantaspects changed in the course of the 2nd millennium BC A review of the spectrum of dated sites from CentralEurope shows that the expansion of metalworking techniques preceded the widespread occupation of highground Hill-top sites at crossroads and river crossings proved to be a permanent feature though shifts inlocation occurred frequently The motivation for the construction of walls and ramparts was probably notuniform Certain walls were clearly built to be seen from afar Hence they can be explained as signs of presenceandor prominence In other cases the aspect of enhanced security deserves special attention The wide variationin size and regional settings of hill-forts as well as the divergent traces of occupation invalidate any unitaryexplanation

How high is a high ground supposed to be Therelative and absolute altitude of settlements inprominent positions varied in a wide range as twoexamples can demonstrate (Figs 1-2) A loess plateauin the Hungarian plain would not be considered as ahigh ground in the alpine region but it is certainly anelevated point in its environs On the other hand hill-top settlements in the Alps are normally not situatedon the highest peaks but rather in a commandingposition with regard to the valley floor These obviousdivergences reflect first of all regional landscapevariation Every landscape feature is embedded in awider topographic context where size andprominence are perceived in relation to the wholeunit Human perception of landscape and itstranslation into cultural terms are issues of concern inarchaeology and of continuing relevance today Earlywritten records explicitly assert the importance oflandscape aspects for human world view Forexample mountains are a prominent theme in thetraditions of the Near East and the Aegean as wellwith Mount Sinai in the Bible and Mount Olympos inthe Greek sources as pre-eminent examplesConnections with religion and ritual are evident in

^niversitat Zurich Ur- und Friihgeschichte Karl -Schmid -Strasse 4 CH-8006 Zurich Switzerland

these cases However they cannot be taken as theunique key appropriate to explain activities on highground for different connotations occurred else-where In continental Europe the frequency ofmedieval castles in elevated positions highlights theimportance of strategic considerations in history Highground was most relevant for military and securitypurposes but equally interesting for the demon-stration of elite life-style The cultural and social websof every period promoted more or less distinctchanges of conceptions

Already in the early days of archaeologicalfieldwork ancient fortifications were found on manyisolated spurs and plateaus Subsequently competingexplanations were linked to these places In Francetoponyms like Camps Cesaire (Caesars Camp) or Fortdes Anglais (Fort of Englishmen) testify a strongcommitment to history (Diot et al 1986Buchsenschutz 1984) The same is true forSwitzerland but connotations were in this caseclosely related to a conception of collective securitybased on local tradition and experience Hence hill-forts were preferably explained as refuge sitesconstructed by the population in order to protectwomen children and livestock against foreignaggression In southern Germany too the refugemodel was in vogue For example some of the highestand steepest ramparts were supposed to belong to the

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

TISZA PLAIN

Fig 1Tiszaug-Kemenyteto an Early Bronze Age Tell site in

Hungary (Csanyi amp Stanczik 1988 241 fig 3)

preventive measures taken against the Magyar raids ofthe 10th century AD (cf discussion by Brachmann(1993 191)) However the actual position of manyhill-forts does not support such an attribution Insteadof being situated in ambush and at a safe distancefrom the routes of potential aggressors they areexposed to sight from far This is a clear contradictionto the refuge model

Later on paradigms shifted in other directions TheCentral Place concept developed in the 1930sinfluenced the reasoning of prehistorians rather latebut all the more persistently It was applied withpreference to Iron Age hill-forts but equallyconsidered for the Late Bronze Age precursors InFrance settlement hierarchies are the preferred modeldiscussed already for the Neolithic period (egPetrequin ampc Petrequin 1988 50) In eastern centralEurope progressive social differentiation was thoughtto have been linked to the rapid evolution of Early

Bronze Age metallurgy and the occurrence of metalhoards in sites with fortifications fitted with thismodel The attempts to find connections betweenMycenaean Greece and the continent acted as anincentive (cf Vladar 1973) Meanwhile a shift ofparadigm occurred (cf Lichardus amp Vladar 1996)

OVERVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

Hill-top sites are not necessarily hill-forts andfurthermore walled settlements can be found on lowground too1 However the coincidence of fortifica-tions and high ground is a relatively frequent featurein continental Europe The area in focus here is theheartland of major European rivers from easternFrance to Slovakia It is surrounded by hills andmountain chains where high ground is plentifularound New results of fieldwork and subsequentanalytical investigations offer fresh insight and thewide variability of the evidence should not beneglected for the sake of a unifying model Theenclosed areas are sometimes very large but variationin size is stunning and can be taken as a potentialindicator for functional diversity Obviously acircumscribed area of 50 ha could have been createdwith different intentions than an enclosed space of5000 m2 Three types of sites were arranged in adiagram (Fig 3) according to size Late Bronze Age(LBA) hill-forts which are clearly dominant in

Fig 2Sotciastel a hill-top site with stone wall in the Italian alps

(Tecchiati 1998 399)

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2 M Pritnas CONTINENTAL HILXFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

Central Europe Early Bronze Age (EBA) sites with astone wall typically found in the Alpine valleys andTell type settlements of the same period in the Tiszaregion ie in southern Slovakia and Hungary

In Germany and France the large hill-top sites withradiocarbon-dated ramparts seem to be essentially aLBA feature However the general layout of manyhill-forts is still better known than their exact positionin time Archaeological classification started from thevisible elements (cf Jockenhovel 1990 Rind 1999)Transverse and circular ramparts are the basicschemes of enclosure They proved to be almost time-invariant and can occur in combination (Fig 4) Inmost cases only relatively small-scale excavationswere possible The wall constructions wereinvestigated more thoroughly than the interior forarchaeologists hoped to detect chronologicalsequences there Under the auspices of AncientHeritage laws this is a reasonable priority formonuments of well-established antiquity are normallyprotected by laws which cannot be applied tolandscape features of unknown age and genesis Inseveral cases observed superpositions helped indeedto define different periods of occupation Howeverthe original idea that certain schemes of constructionshould correspond regularly to distinct periods of thepast did not fit conclusively with the evidence

According to current knowledge the overall time-scale involved is very broad Ditches walls andpalisades were already constructed during theNeolithic period and the latest earthworks inSwitzerland are relics of the Napoleonic war Evenlimited investigations showed that most of the hill-topsites were occupied repeatedly and in differentperiods though not continuously The Bavarianrepertory of sites published-by Michael Rind (1999)illustrates this fact Relatively few radiocarbon datesare available and in certain cases they did notcorrespond to the period best represented in thespectrum of finds At a closer look the dots on theexisting maps of hill-forts do not actually describe apattern of strictly coeval strongholds Nonethelessthey indicate that high ground became fully integratedin the regionaJ sertiement networks of the post-Neolithic periods

In recent years new investigations have beenundertaken for a variety of reasons The activities ofpeople with metal-detectors acted as an unpleasantaccelerator and forced archaeological intervention Atthe same time several institutes initiated case studies

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The dimensions of dated hill-forts in central Europe ALarge Late Bronze Age sites B Large Early and Middle

Bronze Age sites C Small Late Bronze Age sites D Alpinesites with stone wall E Early Bronze Age Tells

that integrated the environment of hill-top sites in atransdisciplinary research design2 These projectsraised the level of discussion significantly and willenhance the understanding of settlement processes inthe near future

EARLY BRONZE AGE STRUCTURES

An almost inflationary expansion of metalproduction distribution and consumption occurred incentral Europe between c 2200 and 1800 cal BC3 andcontinued thereafter It is best reflected in the metalhoards of the period but also in the grave ritualwhich absorbed copper bronze and gold in gradedamounts According to present knowledge thesettlements of the first phase were constructed mainlyin a dispersed layout on low ground The Traisenvalley in Austria with its rare coincidence of livingspace and graves offers the best insight so farHamlets composed of large and small buildings wereorganised along the edge of the lower river terracewhile the cemeteries followed behind In this valleythe hill-top sites are still unexplored and only a fewchance finds indicate human activity on high ground(Neugebauer amp Blesl 1998)

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

Fig 4Zemianske Podhradie a Late Bronze Age hill-fort in Slovakia (Veliacik amp Romsauer 1998 226 fig 1)

In the adjacent regions of eastern Austria (egWaidendorf-Buhuberg (Hahnel 1988) and Boheim-kirchen (Neugebauer 1977)4) Moravia (cf Stuchlik1992) and Slovakia (conveniently summarised inFurmanek et al 1999) enclosed EBA settlements areextant in the period c 1800-1500 cal BC Not all ofthem deserve the attribute of high ground but thepresence of walls andor ditches indicates control ofaccess If we can trust the still weak chronologicalbasis powerful ramparts with an internal skeleton ofwooden beams evolved in the course of the EBA inthis eastern part of central Europe (cf Furmanek et al1999 Bona 1992) Further west in Germany andFrance fortifications of undisputed EBA associationare rare exceptions However the spectrum ofactivities found on many plateaux in prominentpositions clearly shows their importance in thesettlement network of the period5 According tochronological markers it seems that the widespread

occupation of high ground did not occur togetherwith the rapid expansion of metalworking techniquesbut followed it with a certain delay A commonfeatures of the sites in question is their excellentvisibility in the landscape and in many cases theirpositions at potential routes of traffic cross-roads orriver-crossings The Frauenberg near Weltenburg inBavaria that overlooks the Danube before it cutsthrough a mountain ridge can illustrate the argumentIt is situated in a commanding position and couldcertainly not remain unnoticed to anyone passingalong the river The EBA settlement was probably notenclosed for the first of several transverse rampartswas dated at 1200 cal BC (Rind 1999 111) But onthe other end of the narrow passage an EBAfortification could be identified on the Michelsbergnear Kelheim (Fig 5) Jockenhovel (1990) termedsituations like these Zwangspunkte that is pointsthat cannot be avoided

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

Fig 5The situation of the Weltenburg and Michelsberg hill-fortsin the Danube valley near Kelheim Bavaria (Leicht 2000

Beilage 1)

As noted before EBA settlements with enclosuresare a regular phenomenon in two different regions ineastern central Europe and in the Alps (cf Fig 6)Hill-top sites along the Danube and in the Slovakianmountains were linked by their important spectrum offinds to the so-called Tells of the Hungarian plainthough these represent a different phenomenon6 TheTells are sites situated on loess plateaus or sand ridgesnot originally significantly elevated but nonethelessprotected against the annual floods of the riversSettlement debris were levelled up in certain casessince the Neolithic and centuries of occupation trans-formed a site into a distinct feature in the landscapeIn general the Tells were enclosed by naturalwatercourses andor artificial ditches In certain casesclusters of low lying sites surrounded them andindicate an agglomerate settlerrtent organisation

In certain models of core-periphery interaction andsettlement hierarchy metal trade has been classified asa potential source of power (cf Sherratt 1993Shennan 1993 Brun 1993 Winghart 1997 David1998 Kienlin 1999) Furthermore it was assumedthat members of EBA society had unequal access towealth an assertion based mainly on data fromcemeteries For instance anthropological investiga-tions in the Traisen valley indicated correlationsbetween labour invested in burial associated metalequipment and body size of male skeletons (Heinrichamp Teschler-Nikola 1991) Tells and hill-top sites werelabelled as the places where metalworking and tradewere organised As explained before these proposed

links remain hypothetical in the case of the Traisenvalley where the hills are still unexplored

The publication of the Feudvar project in the lowerTisza valley focused attention now in a new direction(Hansel amp Medovic 1991 Falkenstein 1998)Feudvar will certainly be a landmark in the discussionfor the settlement sequence continued there through-out the 2nd and early 1st millennia BC In this case thewhole plateau and the low ground around it wereinvestigated together with the hill-fort that overlooksthe Tisza plain The results are therefore not punctualbut concern the internal organisation of an agglom-erate site In the already mentioned model ofsettlement hierarchy metallurgy was an importantelement At Feudvar the fit is good for metalworkingis well represented for instance by a tool-kit forcasting bronze However correlation does not implycausality

The alpine region was only marginally included inthe discussion though the copper and tin trade is oneof the pillars of the model and the copper mines of theAustrian Alps were productive during the EBA Hill-top sites are pretty numerous and some of them wereenclosed with a stone wall Their generally smalldimensions (cf Fig 3) are in balance with the agrarianpotential of their environs Among the more recentinvestigations the Klinglberg near St Veit south ofSalzburg and Sotciastel in Val Badia in the ItalianAlps are excellent contrasting examples In theKlinglberg case Shennan (1995) proposed a coherentmodel of interaction between the copper producers ofthe site and the potential consumers in the prealpinearea The evidence from Sotciastel (Tecchiati 1998) isdifferent though not incompatible for interactionwith the lowland area is a subject of interest too Thissite (Fig 2) situated in the Alto Adige region ofnorthern Italy on a rocky spur at 1400 m above sealevel (asl) was occupied from 1900 cal BC onwardsThe stone wall that protected the most accessible slopeof the hill is quite well preserved for it was notsignificantly affected by later periods of occupationThough metal objects and a mould for casting axeswere found Sotciastel was not a site of specialisedmetallurgists or copper producers The nearest copperresources are at a walking distance of two days whichseems too far for direct access and furthermore notraces of exploitation were found there Hence thepriorities of economic life were certainly not the sameas in the Austrian copper-belt and we may concludethat copper metallurgy though of undeniable

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

importance is not the magic wand that opens the doorto EBA society Among the small finds of Sotciastel adistinctive category of unknown function andwidespread occurrence stands out leaf-shaped claytablets with incised andor stamped marks (Fig 7)Together with a bead of blue glass paste they indicatethat the site was embedded in a wider network ofcommunication and exchange

A CASE STUDY IN THE UPPER RHINE VALLEY

A similar situation emerged in the northern part of thecentral Alps The upper Rhine valley (Fig 8) is one ofthe northern gateways to the Alps Stone enclosuresare extant on several hills but in most cases their dateandor function remained questionable From 1985 to1995 the Department of Prehistory at ZurichUniversity conducted eight campaigns of fieldwork inthis region The municipality of Wartau situated

halfway between Lake Constance and the Grisonswas chosen for the diversity of its landscape theagricultural potential and the position near a cross-road The area under investigation covers 42 km2 andconsists today of five separate villages interspersedbetween the valley bottom at 420 m asl and thefollowing terraces up to 650 m A broad range offorests and pastures extends on the higher terracesand the steep slopes up to the mountain peaks at2300 m The Wartau project differs from previousinvestigations in the Rhine valley by the broaderconsideration of landscape aspects

It is frequently assumed that settlements on highground were the normal type of habitation in thealpine and pre-alpine river valleys where the valleyfloor was seasonally flooded However the lowerterraces and the alluvial fans of the brooks offeredbetter opportunities for settlement purposes than thedry limestone formations that project into the valleyEarlier research was largely concentrated in these

Fig 7Leaf-shaped clay tablets (Rind 1999 92 fig 15)

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

positions which were easy to find and rewarded theinvestigators with stratigraphic information Mean-while settlements at the edges of the valley floor andon the lower terraces can be found and a more variedsettlement structure begins to emerge

We investigated paradigmatically the most salienthill of the area named Ochsenberg which means ox-hill (Fig 9) The site has an extension of 5000 m2 andan almost triangular surface with cliffs on two sidesand a terraced slope downwards to the Rhine thatflows 200 m below The plateau is optimally visible ina radius of 7-10 km and the motto that promoted theoccupation of this place could have been to see and tobe seen However no fresh water is available and theplace was therefore rather ill-suited for permanentsettlement Nevertheless a late medieval toweroccupied the southern spur of course with a watertank cut in the bedrock

V

Fig 8Settlement sites between Lake Constance and the Grisons

1 Chur 2 Wartau 3 Schellenberg (Liechstenstein 4Koblach (Vorarlberg Austria) copy Swiss Federal Office of

Topography (BA024020)

The prehistoric sequence started around 4300 calBC with repeated but not permanent occupationAfter a gap of several centuries new activitiesfollowed at 2200 cal BC and were considerablyextended from 1800 cal BC onwards A stone wall wasconstructed along the eastern side facing the Rhinevalley Its inner line consisted of large blocks whilesmaller stones were used for the external wall and thefill between them (Fig 10) The material had beenbroken from the limestone outcrops of the plateauSettlement activities were concentrated in the centre ofthe site and continued throughout the later phases ofthe Bronze Age up to 800 cal BC In the 5th centuryBC the function of the site changed drastically Thenew activity can be described as a fire ritual whichincluded the deposition of weapons mainly bronzehelmets and iron spearheads affected by heat (Schmid-Sikimic 1999) A thick layer of calcinated animalbones was found in the centre of the burning placeDuring the Roman period metal deposition continuedbut now essentially coins and ornaments wereinvolved and the fire ritual ceased The next and lastsettlement activity before the construction of the latemedieval fortress occurred from 600 to 800 AD andleft features astonishingly similar to those of theBronze Age (Primas et al 2001) A stone wall wasbuilt along the eastern edge of the plateau in touchwith the ruins of the earlier wall (cf Fig 10) Itenclosed an estate with stone-lined buildings and arepertory of finds that attests a family of the local elitewith trans-alpine connections

The investigations raised several questions1 The first refers to the social context that

promoted the construction of a stone enclosure intwo periods separated by 25 millennia The earlymedieval period is reasonably well known fromhistorical sources The Rhine valley was then partof an almost autonomous territory under thesupremacy of the Frankish king and gouvernedby the bishop of Chur Social stratification isevident from the documents and equally wellfeasible in the archaeological record Leadingfamilies of local descent held offices and ownedestates in different parts of the territory Theirresidences were walled though the period waspeaceful and prosperous as far as the sources cantell us (cf Griininger in Primas et al 2001)Therefore the stone facade of the Ochsenbergwas first of all a visual message of presence andprominence directed towards the Rhine valley

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

Fig 9The Ochsenberg at Wartau (canton St Gallen

Switzerland) Air photograph by Kantonsarchaologie StGallen and Zurich

Protection against unfriendly actions could havebeen a more secondary aspect The EBAoccupation occurred under different conditionsThere is no evidence for an inter-regional powerstructure during this period However a stonewall on a hill was a sign of presence anyhow

2 Who were the nearest neighbours In order tounderstand the function of the hill-top site in thelocal settlement network we investigated thesurrounding area and found two sites of interestA coeval settlement was located 50 m below atthe western foot of the plateau on a terraceexposed to the south The good agrarian soil andthe surrounding pastures could easily havesupported a community of 200 individuals Awell and a running brook provided the necessarywater This settlement and the Ochsenberg wereclearly connected and formed an agglomerate sitewith a high ground that depended from the waterand fields on the terrace (a comprehensivediscussion will appear in Primas et alforthcoming) A third site was situated in awalking distance of ten minutes on a small rockyspur We may conclude that the settlements werelocally dispersed parts of the same organisationalunit For example the same pottery fabric with adistinct serpentine temper was used in the threeplaces An indicator of a possible special functionof the hill-top site is the concentration of storage

pits found there and the absence of these featureson the terrace It is evident that the plateau wasnever occupied by an ordinary farmstead Duringthe later periods it was under elite control orused as a ritual place These alternatives cannotbe excluded for the EBA either though thestandards were certainly different

On the regional level there is evidence foragglomerations of similar layout (Fig 8) Twoother hill-top sites were situated on the easternbank of the Rhine at distances of about 15 kmeach of them with traces of additional settlementsin its environs7 Together they controlled an areaof 200 km2 between Lake Constance and thecross-road that connects the Rhine valley withLake Zurich I suppose that the occupation of thestrategically important hills above the river plaincan be understood as a message of land tenureWas traffic a relevant activity The position of theOchsenberg raised this question and the answerwas moderately affirmative The horse waspresent in the settlement but its meat was notconsumed In the repertory of artefacts a bronzepin imitates a Danubian shape and the fragment

Fig 10The stone walls of the Ochsenberg A Early Bronze Age

B Early Medieval 1100

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

Fig 11Late Bronze Age hill-top sites in central Europe (Rind 1999 7 fig 2)

of a clay object with grooves seems to be relatedto the leaf-shaped items discussed above inconnection with Sotciastel This class of objectswas made locally with more or less closereference to a prototype and occurred mainly insettlements and only exceptionally in graves Asthe distribution map shows (Fig 7) they werefound in a wide area between Lake Constance inthe west and the Iron Gates in the east Hence itseems that a network of communication linkedcommunities of different size and prosperityalong the Danube and on both sides of the Alps

LATE BRONZE AGE HILL-FORTS

The density of hill-top sites constructed during thefinal phases of the Bronze Age is unprecedented andremarkable even if we are well aware that the mappublished by Michael Rind (1999) shows an

aggregation of several centuries (Fig 11) Many ofthese sites were well defended The sequence ofactivities on high ground was probably more variedand more complex than earlier models assumedAccording to an expanding body of evidence woodenenclosures were constructed in almost every phase ofthe LBA and Middle Bronze Age (MBA) precursorsexist too The Heuneburg plateau in the upperDanube valley famous for its Early Iron Age wall wasalready fortified a millennium earlier with a woodenwall laid out in a grid scheme (Gersbach 1989 49 ff)And this was not an exception as recent fieldwork inBavaria could demonstrate For instance the firstfortifications identified on the Bogenberg nearStraubing go back to the MBA but periods of heavyrain affected their traces significantly (Putz amp Schauer2001) Radiocarbon age determinations of burntwooden posts and beams at Bernstorf near Freisingindicate that this important site was enclosed by arampart with probably more than a single phase of

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

Fig 12The Bernstorf hill-fort overlooking an old course of river Amper (Moosauer et al 1998 271 fig 2)

construction c 1675-1330 cal BC Furthermore tree-ring analysis gave a terminus ante quern of 1360 BC forone of the hitherto investigated samples The sitegained additional attention in 1998 when a spectacularassemblage of gold items came to light (Figs 12 amp 13)According to the date of a wooden rod preserved inone of the gold ornaments (c 1400-1100 cal BC) theycan probably be connected with activities thatfollowed closely on the construction of the rampart(Moosauer et al 1998 Gebhard 1999 Gebhard ampRieder 2000) It is too early to determine the type ofactivity but the elaborate metalwork indicates elitebehaviour

However contrasting evidence is not missing Aconsiderable number of hill-forts were occupiedc 1000-800 cal BC and their spectrum of finds

proved to be very uneven in number and materialTwo basic types of fortifications are in evidence Stonewalls occurred in France as exemplified by theimpressive sequence of Etaules in the Cote dOr region(Fig 14) which is not an isolated case (Etaules LeChatelet Nicolardot 1997 for a general overview offortifications in France see Buchsenschutz 1984)From Germany to Slovakia a different scheme wascurrent Ramparts here were normally constructedwith an internal grid of beams filled with clay andsmall stones For the facade combinations of stoneand wood were used in varying arrangements All thisis well established but the role of these installationsremained disputed Their position in the landscapethe density of settlement debris behind the walls andthe size of the enclosed area differ widely and indicate

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

differential functions that have to be investigatedsystematically Several authors attempted a closerclassification in different types using either size andlayout of the sites themselves or their position in themicro-regional cultural landscape

Jockenhovel (1990) proposed a scheme of threetypes differentiated according to their embedding inthe settlement system of the surrounding area Histhird type fortifications in a commanding position atcross-roads and river crossings is clearly a category ofgeneral importance in continental Europe representedin different periods from the Neolithic to the MiddleAges As Jockenhovel rightly stressed these placeswere not continuously inhabited From one period tothe other distinct shifts in occupation occurred Theunderlying criteria of selection and abandonmentdeserve further investigation The remaining types inJockenhovels scheme were tentatively labelled ascentral places on one hand embedded in widernetworks of smaller settlements and large auton-omous sites on the other hand where population wasconcentrated Ongoing fieldwork in the river plainswill show whether the definition of the last group hasto be modified

In Slovakia Furmanek et al (1999) obtainedsimilar results with certain modifications In thisregion hill-forts were already present in the EBA andthe LBA fortifications seem to be separated from theirprecursors by a distinct period of latency They wereonly exceptionally found at the same places The

Slovakian repertory of LBA sites was divided in twoclasses according to their relative altitude in the locallandscape The first class is situated at less than 100 mabove the valley floor while the second ischaracterised by a difficult access with 300-500 m ofascent For obvious reasons these sites on highground are absent in the Danube plain andconcentrated in the interior of the mountain range Asfew of them were investigated internally informationon settlement structures is largely missing In a case-study at Zemianske Podhradie (Fig 4) Veliacik andRomsauer (1998) found buildings of more than onephase but the embedding of the site in thesurrounding territory requires further investigationsA general shift in occupation occurred at the very endof the Bronze Age As observations from Germanydown to Slovenia (Dular 1999) showed enclosed sitesof Iron Age date hardly ever followed a LBAprecursor

WHY HILL-FORTS

The majority of ramparts in Central Europe wasconstructed at the virtual summit of Bronze Agecivilisation and the regional settings proved to beeven more diversified than the fortificationsthemselves According to size traces of activity andembedding in regional networks very differentschemes are apparent

Fig 13Gold ornament from Bernstorf (Gebhard 1999 6 fig 8) Actual length 430mm (3

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

2

A small number of hill-forts surpasses mediansize of 25 ha by far (Fig 3) With more than 88ha the Houbirg near Niirnberg (Abels 1982) isone of the largest among them and theBullenheimer Berg in northern Bavaria (Diemer1995) the best investigated so far In the secondcase the circular rampart enclosed an area of 30ha and transverse ramparts subdivided it furtherTraces of activity followed most densely behindthe fortification which showed several phases ofconstruction and reconstruction Water wasavailable on the plateau and settlement remainswere clearly identified Furthermore theBullenheimer Berg stands out for the quality andquantity of metal objects found as hoards anddispersed finds The influence of an elite istherefore probable though the determination ofits role is guesswork and the type of activity opento debate It is too early for a balanced account ofelite life-style and performace Existing modelsrely heavily on graves and hoards ignoring theimportant question of who owned the landSites situated near cross-roads and in other

3

unavoidable positions were a continuousphenomenon In the LBA sample they do notdominate numerically and not all of them weretransformed into strongholds An example fromthe alpine region the Hohen Ratien in theGrisons canton of Switzerland may illustrate theargument It is a rocky outcrop near theconfluence of the Albula and Hinterrhein rivers(Delia Casa et al 1999) Today the SanBernardino pass route and the route to theEngadin valley diverge at the foot of the rock Onthe plateau a LBA occupation without a wallpreceded a late Roman stronghold with a walland an equally walled medieval castle and churchfollowed itFortified settlements on isolated hills in an openlandscape stand out as an important though not ahomogeneous group Some of them weresurrounded by a highly productive agrarianenvironment The Glauberg near Frankfort is animportant example of this type8 Behind thefortification houses were arranged in rows and awater pool assured life under convenient

Fig 14The stone walls of Etaules le Chatelet Cote-dOr France I Early Iron Age II Late Bronze Age III Neolithic

(Nicolardot 1997 151 fig 3)

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

conditions With 8 ha it is a site of medium sizeIn other cases however the environs were ratherill-suited for farming activities The Hexenbergnear Strasbourg in the Rhine valley a plateau of6 ha is a case in question (Adam amp Lasserre2001) It is situated in the river plain surroundedby marshes and intermittently flooded woodland(Fig 15) The reason of its existence seemeddifficult to determine and the investigators leftthe question open for the momentFor a numerically quite important group of hill-forts the aspect of enhanced security is suggestivethough the evidence is not unequivocal Atpresent arms are not a frequent category of findsin hill-top sites and strongholds with a militarycrew cannot be substantiated in more thanexceptional cases for instance the Heunischen-burg in northern Bavaria (Abels 1993) Howeverthere are other arguments The choice of astrategically important site potentially com-manding a lowland area with settlements androutes of traffic together with a default ofextended permanent settlement structures hintsin this direction Recently we surveyed a site ofthis type the Rhinsberg

THE RHINSBERG HILL-FORT

Along the northern border of Switzerland forti-fications are extant on several elevations thatoverlook the Rhine As they are normally coveredwith forests fieldwork has to be coordinated with theforestry service and this we did on an elongated hillin the canton of Zurich A transverse rampart cuts thesouthern part of a triangular plateau situated 150 mabove the valley floor (Fig 16) Fieldwork proceededin three steps First surveys were conducted across theplateau and along its western edge which seemed tobe artificially modified Then drills and smallsoundings followed They indicated that the widecentral part had not been used for settlement andother charcoal producing activities The absence ofmetal objects was tested with a detector Likewise theeastern margin of the plateau that falls down to theriver with a steep cliff seemed to be a dead end of thesite

Test excavation started at the foot of the transverserampart where traces of settlement activities and LBApottery were found It is not yet possible to determine

zone inondable L-

dapres carte IGN 3914 ouest

burial mounds

bullmdash- ancient road

raquo cremation LBA

i metal finds

Early Iron Agestone axeEarly MedievalRoman sitehumid area

Fig 15The Hexenberg (Alsace France) in its environs (Adam amp

Lasserre 2001 313 fig 2)

the type and permanence of occupation representedby the observed post-holes and a rather loose stonepavement Fireplaces are missing and the density ofpottery is low The most significant results wereobtained along the western facade of the plateau LBApottery occurred more abundantly a compact stonepavement as well as burnt timbers indicated either aroad along the margins of the site or floors ofbuildings The modified edge and upper slope of theplateau contained the foundation of a rampart

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

constructed with stones and horizontally disposedtimbers of oak (Fig 17) It was possible to obtain atree-ring date for the construction As bark andcambrium were missing in the sample only a terminusante quern of 941 BC can be given Furthermoreseveral accelerator radiocarbon dates were measuredFrom a methodological point of view the age deter-minations obtained for two oak beams are instructiveThese timbers were found disposed parallel to eachother and the samples were taken from the last threerings preserved The time-span indicated by the radio-

Fig 16Investigations on the Rhinsberg hill-fort near river Rhine(canton Zurich Switzerland) In area B the Late Bronze

Age rampart was found (cf Fig 17)

carbon dates is rather broad9 but previous botanicalexamination indicated provenance from one and thesame big tree The dates are 2740plusmn55 BP 1000-800cal BC (ETH-22987) and 2900plusmn60 BP 1230-910 calBC (ETH-22988)

It is evident that the calibrated age spans overlapand the longevity of oaks seems to be the main causeof the small overlap in this case Clearly botanicalcriteria have their special merits for the analysis ofwooden structures The period around 900 cal BCindicated by one of the samples plus the tree-ring datefit nicely with the pottery and with a bronze pin of thevase-headed type which is one of the diagnosticelements in LBA lake-side settlements

The Rhinsberg plateau is a good example of a welldefended hill-top site with a low level of settlementactivities It is certainly not an atypical case forparallels were reported in other regions (Furmanek etal 1999 121) Though the majority of hill-forts -including the Rhinsberg - were investigated on a smallscale disparities in the amount of settlementindicators are evident pits and pottery two diagnosticelements of household activities are very wellrepresented in certain sites even after limitedexcavations while they are sparse in others Hencethe ascription as settlements does not seemappropriate for the latter group In a social territory ofa certain complexity different types of activities andconcerns will cause different arrangements in thelandscape The early medieval period offers an amplerepertory for model-building

At 25 ha the Rhinsberg belongs to the small hill-forts As discussed before it was certainly not a placewhere an elite deposited metal hoards The absence ofa water source behind the fortification is a soundargument against its qualification as a refuge forhumans and their livestock Water is available on thelower terraces but for a stronghold under attack thiswould create serious problems However a LBArampart c 300 m long was constructed probably forgood reason The situation at the hill foot below therampart may hold the clue Recent archaeologicalresearch along the Rhine and its tributaries raised thenumber of Bronze Age sites considerably In earliersummaries of the evidence the density of settlementsalong the north-alpine lakes was set into contrast tothe only marginally inhabited river valleys For theBronze Age this scheme proved to be wrongFavourable climatic conditions during a considerable

55

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

r

Fig 17Foundation of the LBA rampart on the Rhinsberg 1 2 oak beams with radiocarbon dates mentioned in the text 3 oak

beam with tree-ring date

part of the period permitted settlements to beestablished on previously risky ground The humidareas in these valleys probably diminished and landuse expanded Recent surveys and excavations on theterraces of the Rhine unveiled an important increasein human activities from the MBA onwardsTherefore the Rhinsberg was not situated in isolationAn other hillfort was found 30 km north of the riverat the entrance to the black forest region (Behnke2000 167 ff) and more can be expected for thenumber of undated ramparts is considerable If thecommunities that lived below a hill left it unoccupiedthen they would have risked that potential raiderscould operate from these strategic positionsdownward

To sum up hill-forts were a regular feature of theLBA cultural landscape Size and layout variedaccording to local conditions and a unity ofconception in their organisation cannot be demon-strated The explanation most consistent with theobserved facts would be to recognise them aswitnesses of a progressive social formatting of thelandscape

CONCLUSIONS

In a long-term perspective a key constituent of thesocial organisation in central Europe was instabilityFrom the Middle Neolithic onwards this led tofrequent shifts in settlement location and preventedthe installation of permanent power structuresProlonged phases of relative stability occurred duringthe Early and Late Bronze Age The EBA evidenceindicates a process of reorganisation and expansionMobility was a factor of considerable influence Itpromoted the permanent occupation of marginallyinhabited areas and the installation of hill-top sitesat cross-roads and river-crossings Technologicalstandards were shared on an inter-regional scale asthe success of tin bronze metallurgy demonstratesAltogether there is good evidence for prosperity and afunctioning system of communication and interactionSites with powerful enclosures were not a regularphenomenon and explanations should therefore besearched at the regional level

The LBA boom of hill-forts coincided with anincrease in the secondary and tertiary sectors of

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2 M Pritnas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

production For instance salt mining in the AustrianAlps started during this period (Barth 1998) andmetalworking was practiced in almost every villageWoodland diminished and former areas of wildernesswere incorporated in the cultural landscape Fromlarge-scale investigations a high density of settlementsin almost every topographic situation is assured withfarmsteads villages and hill-forts According to theresults of research on the regional level the LBA hill-forts small and large were connected with a systemof land division and territorial control that could bemaintained for several centuries We do not knowwhether an acknowledged system of peace regulationsgoverned the political relations of this period butsurely alliances must have been just as crucial asfortifications Be that as it may around 800 cal BC thesystem was overturned Grave ritual changed a newsettlement layout emerged and new hill-forts werebuilt in different places

In conclusion from the LBA onwards hill-fortswere well established corner-stones in the centralEuropean mosaic of cultural landscapes Their rolewas not uniform and responded to regionalconditions Subsequently the phenomenon of hill-topoccupation did not disappear at any time but theselection of sites changed repeatedly and changeoccurred in accordance with other signs ofdiscontinuity With current investigations in theregional settings of hill-forts and a more rigorouschronological control we intend to proceed to a betterunderstanding of the processes involved It seemsappropriate to close with a statement of the lateProfessor Grahame Clarke In seeking explanationsfor cultural change it is always important to bear inmind the potential importance of non-rational evenrandom or accidental causes

EndnotesFor instance EBA lake-side settlements with palisadesConcise-sous-Colachoz in western Switzerland (Wolf et al1999) or the Forschner site at the Federsee in southernGermany (Torke 1990) The EBA fortifications investigatedin southern Slovakia are mainly situated on a river terracenot more than 10 m higher than the flood plain (Furmaneketal 1999)2Relevant examples are the Feudvar project (Hansel ampMedovic 1991 Falkenstein 1998) or the investigations onand around the Bogenberg near Straubing in Bavaria(Schauer 1998 Putz amp Schauer 2001)3Radiocarbon dates were calibrated using the actualPearson curve In the text all dates are expressed as cal BC

4Both are sites with ditches The first is situated on a hill thesecond on a terrace and hence not significantly elevated5Simon (1990) mapped the presence of EBA pottery on hill-top sites in Saxony Conclusive evidence for coevalenclosures is missing The same is true for southernWiirttemberg where Biel (1985) defined the time ofoccupation with the spectrum of finds6For an overview of research see Bona (1992) For adiscussion of chronological and regional differentiation seeDavid (1998) For fieldwork in the Tisza region see Kovacsamp Stanczik (1988)7The Eschener Berg or Schellenberg in the principality ofLiechtenstein was occupied in almost every period It is anInselberg situated in a strategic position with severalseparate peaks Stone walls of different periods are knownbut the documentation does not permit close dates EBAoccupation is well represented on the Borscht peak(Maczyinska 1999) Further to the north a secondInselberg Koblach-Kadel is situated in the western part ofAustria Vorarlberg Stone walls are present but theirprecise chronological position has to be checked with newexcavations The latest phase of the EBA is very wellrepresented in the spectrum of finds that includes bronzeaxes and amber beads in addition to a large assemblage ofpottery (Fetz 1988)8The Glauberg is best known for the important early LaTene tumulus burials below the plateau that was fortified indifferent periods For an overview of the LBA settlementstructure and finds see Herrmann (1966 8f)9The samples were dated with AMS technique by Dr GBonani Accelerator Mass Spectrometry RadiocarbonLaboratory ITP Eidgenossische Technische HochschuleHonggerberg CH-8093 Zurich Switzerland

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57

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THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY

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Delia Casa Ph Bass B amp Fedele F 1999 The Grisonsalpine valleys survey 1995-97 methods results andprospects of an interdisciplinary research program In PhDelia Casa (ed) Prehistoric Alpine Environment Societyand Economy Papers of the International ColloquiumPAESE 97 in Zurich 151-72 Universitatsforschungenzur Prahistorischen Archaologie 55 Bonn Habelt

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Diot M-E Gomez J amp Marinval Ph 1986 he site fortifiedu Fort-des-Anglais a Mouthiers-sur-Boeme (Charente) etson environnement protohistorique llle Congresnational des Societes savantes Poitiers Pre- etProtohistoire 331-6

Dular J 1999 Hohensiedlungen in Zentralslowenien vonder Kupfer- bis zur Eisenzeit - Bericht iiber einForschungsprojekt Prdhistorische Zeitschrift 74 129-53

Falkenstein F 1998 Feudvar II Die Siedlungsgeschichte desTiteler Plateaus Prdhistorische Archaologie inSiidosteuropa 14 Kiel OetkerVoges

Fetz H 1988 Koblach-Kadel - Schnittpunkt zweierKulturgebiete Jahrbuch des Vorarlberger Landes-museumsvereins 9-42

Furmanek V Veliacik L amp Vladar J 1999 DieBronzezeit im slowakischen Raum PrahistorischeArchaologie in Siidosteuropa 15 RahdenWestf Leidorf

Gebhard R 1999 Der Goldfund von Bernstorf BayerischeVorgeschichtsbldtter 64 1-18

Gebhard R amp Rieder KH 2000 Zwei gravierteBernsteinobjekte aus Bernstorf Das archdologische Jahrin Bayern 2000 44-6

Gersbach E 1989 Ausgrabungsmethodik undStratigraphie der Heuneburg Heuneburgstudien 6Mainz Zabern

Hahnel B 1988 Waidendorf-Buhuberg Siedlung derbronzezeitlichen Vetefovkultur Forschungen in Stillfried8 Wien Oesterreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft fiir Ur-und Friihgeschichte

Hansel B amp Medovic P 1991 Vorbericht iiber diejugoslawisch-deutschen Ausgrabungn in der Siedlung vonFeudvar bei Mosorin (Gem Titel Vojvodina) von1986-1990 Berichte der Romisch-GermanischenKommission 72 45-204

Heinrich W amp Teschler-Nikola M 1991 ZurAnthropologie des Graberfeldes F von GemeinlebarnNiederosterreich In J W Neugebauer Die Nekropole Fvon Gemeinlebarn Niederosterreich 222-257 Romisch-Germanische Forschungen 49 Main Zabern

Herrmann FR 1966 Die Funde der Urnenfelderkulturin Mittel und Sudhessen Romisch-GermanischeForschungen 27 Berlin De Gruyter

Jockenhovel A 1990 Bronzezeitlicher Burgenbau inMitteleuropa Untersuchungen zur Struktur fruhmetall-zeitlicher Gesellschaften In T Bader J M BlazquezMartinez J Briard N Ehrhardt G Eogan A FHarding F-W von Hase A Jockenhovel H Klengel MPaz Garcia-Gelabert Perez P Schauer H Thrane RWerner Orientalisch-dgdische Einfliisse in dereuropdischen Bronzezeit Ergebnisse eines Kolloquiumsam Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum Mainz209-28 Bonn Habelt

Kienlin TL 1999 Vom Stein zur Bronze Zursoziokulturellen Deutung friiher Metallurgie in derenglischen Theoriediskussion Tiibinger Texte 2RahdenWestf Leidorf

Kovacs T amp Stanczik I (eds) 1988 Bronze Age TellSettlements on the Great Hungarian Plain InventariaPraehistorica Hungariae Budapest Magyar NemzetiMuzeum

Lichardus J amp Vladar J 1996 Karpatenbecken - Sintasta- Mykene Ein Beitrag zur Definition der Bronzezeit alshistorischer Epoche Slovenskd Archeologia 44 25-93

Maczynska M 1999 Schellenberg-Borscht Einprdhistorischer Siedlungsplatz im FurstentumLiechtenstein Befunde - Keramik - Metallfunde VaduzVerlag des Historischen Vereins

Moosauer M Bachmaier G Gebhard R amp Schubert F1998 Die befestigte Siedlung der Bronzezeit bei BernstorfLdkr Freising Vorbericht zur Grabung 1995-1997 In HKiister A Lang amp P Schauer (eds) ArchdologischeForschungen in urgeschichtlichen SiedlungslandschaftenFestschrift fur Georg Kossack zum 75 Geburtstag269-80 Regensburg Universitatsverlag

Neugebauer J-W 1977 Boheimkirchen Monographie desnamengebenden Fundortes der Boheimkirchnergruppeder Vetefovkultur Archaeologia Austriaca 6162 31-207

Neugebauer J-W amp Blesl Ch 1998 Das Traisental in

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2 M Primas CONTINENTAL HILLFORTS IN BRONZE AGE CONTEXTS

Niederosterreich - die Siedlungserschliessung einerTallandschaft im Alpenvorland in der Bronzezeit InHansel B (ed) Mensch und Umwelt in der BronzezeitEuropas Abschlusstagung der Kampagne desEuroparates laquoDie Bronzezeit das erste goldene ZeitalterEuropasraquo an der Freien Univeritdt Berlin 17-19 Marz1997 395-418 Kiel Oetker-Voges

Nicolardot J-P 1985 Etaules Gallia Prehistoire 28 172-4Nicolardot J-P 1997 Organisation du Territoire

lexample de la vallee du Suzon In P Brun amp B Chaume(eds) Vix et les ephemeres Principautes celtiques 149-56Paris Errance

Petrequin A-M ampc Petrequin P 1988 Ee neolithique deslacs Prehistoire des lacs de Chalain et de Clairvaux(4000-2000 av J-C) Paris Errance

Primas M Schindler MP Roth-Rubi K Diaz TaberneroJ amp Griininger S 2001 Wartau - Ur- undfriihgeschichtliche Siedlungen und Brandopferplatz imAlpenrheintal (Kanton St Gallen Schweiz) IFruhmittelalter und romische Epoche Universitats-forschungen zur Prahistorischen Archaologie 75 BonnHabelt

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Putz U amp Schauer P 2001 Der Bogenberg inNiederbayern Vorbericht iiber die Untersuchungs-ergebnisse der Jahre 1999-2000 ArchdologischesKorrespondenzblatt 31 377-94

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Schauer P 1998 Umweltbedingungen und Siedelverhaltenzur Urnenfelderzeit Das Fallbeispiel der befestigtenGrosssiedlung auf dem Bogenberg Lkr Straubing-BogenNiederbayern In H Kiister A Lang amp P Schauer (eds)Archdologische Forschungen in urgeschichtlichenSiedlungslandschaften Festschrift fiir Georg Kossack zum75 Geburtstag 317-54 Regensburg Universitatsverlagin Komm Bonn Habelt

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Stuchlik S 1992 Die Vetefov-Gruppe und die Entstehungder Hiigelgraberkultur in Mahren PrdhistorischeZeitschrift 67 17-42

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Torke W 1990 Abschlussbericht zu den Ausgrabungen inder Siedlung Forschner und Ergebnisse derBauholzuntersuchungen Berichte der Romisch-Germanischen Kommission 71 52-7

Veliacik L amp Romsauer P 1998 Vysledky vyskumuhradiska luzickej kultury v Zemianskom Podhradi(Predbezna sprava) Slovenskd Archeologia 64 225-51

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Winghart S 1997 Gewinnung Verarbeitung undVerteilung von Kupfer Ein Projekt des BayerischenLandesamts fiir Denkmalpflege im Rahmen desForschungsschwerpunktes laquoArchaometallurgieraquo derVolkswagenstiftung Das archdologische Jahr in Bayern1997 75-8

Wolf C Burri E Hering P Kurz M Maute-Wolf MQuinn DS amp Winiger A 1999 Les sites lacustresneolithiques et bronzes de Concise VD-sous-Colachozpremiers resultats et implications sur le Bronze ancienregional Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft fiirUr- und Fruhgescbichte 82 7-38

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