Heuneburg

Heuneburg

Reconstructed Celtic Heuneburg in 600 B.C.
Shown within Germany
Location	near Herbertingen, Baden-Württemberg
Region	Germany
Coordinates	48°05′41″N 9°24′43″E / 48.0947°N 9.4119°E / 48.0947; 9.4119
Type	Hillfort, burial mounds
History
Builder	Celts
Material	wood, earth
Founded	main structure 7th century BC
Abandoned	5th century BC
Periods	Iron Age
Cultures	Celts, Hallstatt culture, La Tène (?)
Site notes
Public access	Yes

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. Apart from the fortified citadel, there are extensive remains of settlements and burial areas spanning several centuries.

The fortified citadel measures about 300 by 150 m. It stood on a strategically positioned mountain spur that rises steeply 40m above the Danube. It is at the centre of a fertile river plain, surrounded by rolling hill country.

The site was first noted in the 1820s. In 1882, Eduard Paulus () 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 Adolf Rieth, Kurt Bittel, Egon Gersbach and Wolfgang Kimmig.

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). 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 (see below).