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Danebury and the Heuneburg: Creating Communities in Early Iron Age Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2018

Oliver Davis
Oliver Davis*
Affiliation:
School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, UK
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Abstract

The Iron Age in temperate Europe is characterized by the emergence of hillforts. While such sites can be highly variable, they also share many characteristics, implying cultural linkages across a wide geographical area. Yet, the interpretation of hillforts has increasingly seen significant divergence in theoretical approaches in different European countries. In particular, Iron Age studies in Britain have progressively distanced themselves from those pursued in continental Europe. This article attempts to address this issue by analysing the evidence from two of the best-known hillforts in Europe: Danebury in Wessex, southern England, and the Heuneburg in Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany. The article highlights a number of key similarities and differences in the occupational sequences of these sites. While the differences indicate that the hillforts are the creation of very different Iron Age societies, the synergies are argued to be a consequence of communities evincing similar responses to similar problems, particularly those resulting from the social tensions that develop when transforming previously dispersed rural societies into increasingly centralized forms.

L'essor des sites de hauteurs fortifiés caractérise l’âge du Fer en Europe tempérée. Bien que fort divers, ils possèdent des trais communs, ce qui présuppose des liens culturels sur une vaste aire géographique. Cependant on a interprété les sites de hauteurs fortifiés sur des bases théoriques de plus en plus divergentes dans les différents pays européens. Les études sur l’âge du Fer en Grande-Bretagne se sont progressivement distancées de celles de l'Europe continentale. L'auteur de cet article cherche à confronter ce problème à travers l'analyse des données archéologiques fournies par deux sites de hauteur fortifiés bien connus en Europe, Danebury dans le Wessex (Angleterre du sud) et la Heuneburg en Bade-Wurtemberg (Allemagne du sud-ouest), et relève plusieurs traits communs importants ainsi que des différences dans l'occupation de ces sites. Si les différences indiquent que ces sites de hauteur fortifiés ont été créés par des sociétés de l’âge du Fer fort diverses, les synergies auraient pu être le résultat de solutions semblables à un problème commun, c'est-à-dire comment résoudre les tensions que la transformation de communautés autrefois rurales en sociétés de plus en plus centralisées engendre. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Die Entstehung von befestigten Höhensiedlungen ist ein Merkmal der Eisenzeit im gemäßigten Europa. Obschon sie sehr unterschiedlich sind, gibt es aber auch viele Gemeinsamkeiten, was kulturelle Verknüpfungen über weite geografische Bereiche voraussetzt. Die Deutung dieser befestigten Höhensiedlungen hat sich in ihren theoretischen Grundlagen in den verschiedenen Länder Europas zunehmend verzweigt. Besonders in Großbritannien hat sich die Erforschung der Eisenzeit von den Forschungen auf dem europäischen Festland immer mehr abgegrenzt. In diesem Artikel wird versucht, durch die Untersuchung der Nachweise aus zwei der bekanntesten befestigten Höhensiedlungen in Europa, Danebury in Wessex (Südengland) und die Heuneburg in Baden-Württemberg (Südwestdeutschland), auf diese Frage einzugehen. Mehrere wichtige Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede in der Belegungsabfolge der beiden Siedlungen werden hervorgehoben. Während die Unterschiede in den befestigten Höhensiedlungen sehr wahrscheinlich die Erzeugungen ganz verschiedenen eisenzeitlichen Gemeinschaften widerspiegeln, zeigen die Synergien, dass ähnliche Lösungen für gemeinsame Probleme gesucht wurden, nämlich wie man die Spannungen, die aus der Verwandlung von ehemaligen ländlichen Gemeinschaften zu zunehmend zentralisierten Formen der Gesellschaft, überwinden kann. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

DaneburyHeuneburghillfortcommunitycentralizationspatial logicsDaneburyla Heuneburgsites de hauteur fortifiéscommunautéscentralisationlogique spatialeDaneburyHeuneburgbefestigte HöhensiedlungGemeinschaftZentralisierungräumliche Logik
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 67 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2018 

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