D. Krausse/L. Hansen/R. Tarpini, Earliest Town North of the Alps. New Excavations and Research in the Heuneburg Region. In: L. Zamboni/M. Fernández-Götz/C. Metzner-Nebelsick (Hrsg.), Crossing the Alps. Early Urbanism between Northern Italy and Central Europe (900-400 BC) (Leiden 2020) 299-317. Dirk Krausse, Leif Hansen, Roberto Tarpini

https://www.academia.edu/44840034/D_Krausse_L_Hansen_R_Tarpini_Earliest_Town_North_of_the_Alps_New_Excavations_and_Research_in_the_Heuneburg_Region_In_L_Zamboni_M_Fern%C3%A1ndez_G%C3%B6tz_C_Metzner_Nebelsick_Hrsg_Crossing_the_Alps_Early_Urbanism_between_Northern_Italy_and_Central_Europe_900_400_BC_Leiden_2020_299_317?rhid=41926408914&swp=rr-rw-wc-29328063&nav_from=31228a98-1bc6-40fe-bafd-2265337ed6b0 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.