The Heuneburg - Supply networks and sphere of influence around the protohistoric hillfort
Résumé
As a major political and economic centre north of the Alps during the late Hallstatt period, the Heuneburg enjoys a key position in the study of
the Iron Age in Europe. The almost 3 ha hillfort and the rich burial mounds surrounding it, however, are only the tip of the iceberg in a complex
and extensive network. The Heuneburg is situated in an advantageous geographical position at the gateway to the Alps and on the upper reaches
of the Danube, at the crossroads of the Mediterranean to the south, the Atlantic to the west, the Baltic and the British Isles to the north and
the Black Sea to the east. The Attic ceramics as well as Greek and Italic transport amphorae found on the hillfort, the import of Mediterranean
architectonic technology (mudbricks wall, monumental stone gate) as well as the amber beads or the bracelets made from sapropelite from the
burials, bear witness to this exceptional location. The human and material resources used for the construction of the fortified settlement and for
the erection of monumental burial mounds also attest to a strong hierarchy which extends far beyond the Heuneburg itself. In order to gain a
better understanding of this organisation, the landscape and periphery of the Heuneburg as well as the supply of raw materials (e.g. iron, gold,
sapropelite) are the focus of a research project which was launched in 2014 with the support of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft). Intended to run for twelve years, the project has already led to the investigation of surrounding hillforts (Alte Burg,
Große Heuneburg, Bussen) forming a network of power centres linked to the Heuneburg. This network is based on a rich hinterland with open
rural settlements (Ensmad, Emerfeld) which supplied natural and agricultural resources for the Heuneburg and the other hilltop settlements. The
discovery of craft districts on the hilltop plateau and in the lower town of the Heuneburg, linked in particular to bronze metallurgy, bears witness
to the central position of the site within the supply networks. The more recently discovered traces of activity of goldsmiths on the plateau point
in the same direction.
The present paper explores the central role of the Heuneburg in short- and long-distance exchanges on the basis of the data acquired over the
past seven years within the research project. The various surrounding hillforts, the open rural settlements and how they are interrelated with
the Heuneburg will be discussed, as well as the exploitation of resources in the hinterland, craft production, provenance and circulation of raw
material and manufactured goods within the Heuneburg’s sphere of influence.
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