The late Hallstatt chieftain's grave at Hochdorf

Abstract

The roots of Celtic civilization can be seen to lie in the hill strongholds of late Hallstatt period in Eastern France, Switzerland and Southern Germany, distinguished by their Mediterranean contacts: these have been classed as the residences of chieftains, Fürstensitze, by Kimmig (1968). Three of these Fürstensitze have particularly attracted archaeological attention in the last 30 years, in Southern Germany, the Heuneburg on the Upper Danube (Kimmig, 1968; Kimmig/Gersbach, 1971), and the Hohenasperg near Ludwigsburg (Zürn, 1970), and in Burgundy Mt Lassois near Châtillonsur-Seine (Joffroy, 1960). The excavation of the Heuneburg was mainly confined to the settlement site itself, whereas we know the Hohenasperg only from the graves surrounding the site. The excavation of the Grafenbühl tumulus by Hartwig Zürn in 1964/65 (Zürn, 1970) has shown, however, that the importance of the Hohenasperg must have been at least equal to that of the Heuneburg.