Early Urbanism South and North of the Alps: An Introduction (original) (raw)
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The Heuneburg was one of the most important centres of power during the Early Iron Age north of the Alps. At the height of its prosperity in the first half of the 6th century BC the Heuneburg consisted of the hilltop plateau or acropolis, the lower town, and the outer settlement extending over an area of about 100 ha. The fieldwork of the last two decades has radically changed the traditional picture of this Early Iron Age centre of power. The Heuneburg should no longer be described as a small ‘princely seat’, but rather as one of the first urban or proto-urban centres of temperate Europe. The new results of the excavations at the Bettelbühl necropolis also shed completely new light on the history and development of the Heuneburg itself. The extraordinary finds from tumulus 4 suggest close connections south of the Alps. Within the framework of a long-term research programme financed by the German Research Foundation, the further environment of the Heuneburg has been the subject of systematic investigation since 2014. The spur of the Alte Burg was extensively reshaped in the Hallstatt period and served as a cult or assembly place, perhaps also as a location for games and competitions. The Große Heuneburg instead was a fortified hilltop settlement protected by powerful two-shelled walls. The Heuneburg, the Alte Burg, the Große Heuneburg, and further hilltop sites in the region, will have formed a complex system consisting of a main centre with further dependent central places.
Early Iron Age urbanism in the south-eastern Alpine region: a case study of the Pungrt hillfort
Documenta Praehistorica, 2024
Largescale excavation at the Iron Age and Roman period Pungrt hillfort (8th century BC to 2nd century AD) has revealed a distinctly urban character of the settlement in its best preserved Late Hallstatt phase from the 6th to 4th centuries BC. This study provides an important contribution to the understanding of the settlement’s internal organization and its socioeconomic development. By examining the previously unaddressed phenomena of settlement nucleation, population aggregation and urbanism along with the possibility of earlystate formation, the paper broadens the narrative on the fundamental social and political development in the southeastern Alpine region during the Early Iron Age and contributes to the wider field of early urbanism research.
Between the late 7th and the 5th centuries BC, large fortified centres, traditionally called ‘princely seats’ by scholars, developed in the area to the north of the Alps. In some cases these centres of power could cover an area of several dozen or even more than 100 hectares, and are testimony to a process of centralisation that led to the establishment of the first urban and proto-urban settlements in the history of Central Europe. Particularly conspicuous are the monumental fortification works with their ditches, banks and gates, and which are to be interpreted as identity-creating characteristics of the communities and as a conscious orchestration of the elites. Apart from their very real function as fortifications, in recent years increasing attention has been drawn to their symbolic role. This paper will consider these north Alpine fortifications on the basis of three examples: 1) the Heuneburg, with its mudbrick wall inspired by the Mediterranean world and the newly discovered stone gate; 2) Mont Lassois, with its impressive system of various banks and ditches; and 3) the Glauberg, where the course of the bank and ditch system is above all to be seen all as the symbolic demarcation of a supra-regional sanctuary.
Landscape change in the European Mountain Areas. Settlement of the Alps: evolution and trajectories
The increasingly fast pace of urban conversion of land over the past fifty years in Italy is a phenomenon that has caused serious damage to the national landscape. The problem concerns the whole of Italy but is most serious in those areas that generate important benefits thanks to the quality of their landscape. In this sense, many references are made in the European Landscape Convention tog the Alps as undoubtedly one of Italy's most iconic landscapes in the international perception, along with the cities of art. This paper describes the results of a research on the features of urbanisation in the fifties in the Italian Alps, based on uniform historical maps of the entire region. Geostatistical surveys were conducted to determine the distribution changes of urban concentration over time and analyses were developed to point out what landscape and morphological elements have emerged, and are basically confirming greater sensitivity to land artificial-isation. A number of comparisons based on specific indicators were produced that show the ty-pological and geographic variations of development taking place in the time period studied. Important information has emerged on the different territorial policies implemented by the regions over the long-term.
Settlement of the Eastern Alps in the Early Middle Ages
2024
It is a groundbreaking exploration of the dynamics of early medieval communities within the Eastern Alps, covering Slovenia and parts of Austria. This volume, authored by an international team of researchers, presents the results of years of archaeological research into settlement patterns, agricultural practices, and social transformations between the sixth and eleventh centuries. By employing advanced methodologies such as LiDAR and GIS, alongside in-depth archaeological analyses, this book provides unprecedented insights into how early settlers adapted to and interacted with their environment. Through detailed regional and micro-regional analyses, it illuminates the emergence of the Alpine Slavs, their integration with existing populations, and their role in the socio-political fabric of the region. Essential reading for archaeologists and historians, this book redefines our understanding of the early medieval landscape in the Eastern Alps, offering not only a state-of-the-art overview of archaeological research but also fresh perspectives on the acculturation and agricultural evolution that shaped this pivotal historical period.
Journal of Alpine Research | Revue de géographie alpine, 106-2 | 2018
2019
Expansion of urbanized areas heavily changed cultural landscapes' features in many European countries. Mountain territories have been hit by such processes too; due to their peculiar social and topographical characteristics these effects have been greater than in other territories. Moreover, urbanization expansion process in the Alps is strongly related with temporary dynamics depending from touristic fluxes, implementation of new spaces of mobility, economic development and living. In a context of extreme land scarcity like in the Alps, urban sprawl and dwellers' search for nature proximity to homes and residential areas put territorial governance instruments under pressure and opens up complex questions. Beside other experiences between urban and peripheral spaces, the essay aims at speculating that typical rural communitarian governance models are able to strengthen collective interests over individual ones and can be translated into urban governance models by public auth...