Ringwallburg Heunstein: A Celtic Hilltop Fortification in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Iron Age
- Eras represented
- Iron Age
- Civilizations
- Celtic
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Wall
On this page6 sections
History
Ringwallburg Heunstein is the remains of a Celtic hilltop fortification in Germany, near Dillenburg in Hesse, dating from the Late La Tène period of the Iron Age. Its extensive enclosure has led to its interpretation as a Celtic hilltop settlement, possibly an oppidum, a large fortified settlement associated with late Iron Age Celtic communities.
Early and Late La Tène Occupation
The fortification was probably occupied for a relatively short period, judging from the small number of finds. Fibulae, ancient brooches used to fasten clothing, have been dated to the Early La Tène period. Their presence suggests that the hilltop may have been settled before the ringwall was built. Evidence of copper smelting from the Middle to Late La Tène period was also found near Heunstein. Iron objects were used by Celtic communities, but Celtic-period iron production has not been demonstrated in the surrounding area; iron smelting in the wider Dill-Dietzhölze region belongs to the medieval period.
Survey and Excavation
Karl August von Cohausen described the fortification in 1879 and prepared a basic plan. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Heinrich Behlen, a forestry official from Haiger, produced a more detailed plan after carrying out a more precise survey. Archaeological excavations followed from 1925 to 1931 under Dr. Ferdinand Kutsch, then director of the Nassau Antiquities Collection in Wiesbaden.
Ringwallburg Heunstein is protected as an archaeological monument under the Hessian Monument Protection Act. Investigations and deliberate collecting of finds require permission, while chance discoveries must be reported to the monument-protection authorities.
Remains
Ringwall and Enclosure
The remains lie on the forested, 471.1-metre-high Heunstein ridge north of Dillenburg, southeast of Manderbach, south of Frohnhausen, and southwest of Nanzenbach. The ridge is bordered by the Dietzhölze to the west and by the Nanzenbach from east to south. The ringwall fortification follows the ridge from southwest to northeast for about 650 metres. It forms an elongated, relatively narrow enclosure, averaging about 150 metres in width and reaching a maximum of 350 metres, with an enclosed area of approximately 12 hectares.
The surviving defensive earthworks consist of the ringwall and its ditch. The course of the wall can still be traced, although it is only weakly visible in the terrain. A former main gate is also identified among the remains. The site’s spring, now called Heuweiher, was protected by a semicircular annex wall incorporated into the fortification.
Archaeological Finds
The recovered material includes coarse pottery, several pieces of fine pottery, and fibulae from the Early La Tène period. The fine pottery has been attributed by its manufacture to the ringwall at Dünsberg near Biebertal-Fellingshausen, a nearby Celtic hillfort and archaeological site in Hesse. Together with the fibulae, these finds help place activity at Heunstein within successive phases of the La Tène period.
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