Prehistoric Fortification (Archaeology)

SUMMARY: Lecture 10 completes the summary of the Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades (Early Cycladic) and on Crete (Early Minoan). This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources. REVISED: Many new slides, images, text, sources, and revised formatting (Feb., 2024).

La présente contribution vise à préciser les aspects géographiques et chronologiques liés à l’apparition, au développement et au déclin d’un type de construction en pierre sèche localement appelée « torre ». Ces édifices monumentaux, qui présentent une forme de tour tronconique, sont élevés selon un cahier des charges architectural précis, et trouvent leur strict équivalent en Sardaigne avec les milliers de nuraghi monotorre du Bronze ancien et moyen. La publication du détail du maigre corpus des torre de Corse, ainsi que la révision des données chronologiques fournies par les fouilles et les prospections opérées ces cinquante dernières années, seront également l’occasion de souligner l’importance prise par ces monuments dans l’évolution de la construction du discours archéologique depuis les années 1960 et les travaux de Roger Grosjean.

Archaeologist Joel Klenck conducted an archaeological survey for prehistoric and historic properties covering approximately 60.12 acres (24.32 hectares) above the current village of Ofu, on the western coast of Ofu Island, Manu’a Archipelago, for the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office, in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), as amended. The project resulted in the identification and recordation of seven (7) historic sites, AS-13-050 to AS-13-056, comprising two hundred and seven (207) historic features, 661 lithic tools or pieces of debitage, 9 coral tools, 32 bones of a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), 4 molluscs representing three species, and 1 metal casing from a bullet. These features, particularly the slope terraces, were occupied during pre-contact periods and afterwards. The survey featured both pedestrian research and ground penetrating radar allowing a surficial and stratigraphic analyses of each locale.

In the Porto Cesareo (Lecce, Italy) coastal area, submerged and semi-submerged archaeological evidence has been uncovered by recent preliminary surveys carried out in close collaboration with the local marine protected area (MPA): (a) a navis lapidaria wreck of the Roman imperial age; (b) various scattered and decontextualised finds; (c) a beached wreck, probably medieval; (d) some submerged built-structures that are part of the Bronze Age Scalo di Furno settlement; and (e) remains of structures (walls, buildings, burial areas). The last three pieces of evidence allow for the hypothesis of a significantly different ancient coastal landscape than that of the present and a ‘dynamic’ scenario
over the centuries.

The paper deals with the results of the third consecutive season of excavations in the Late Helladic site of Kastrouli, southern Phokis, during summer 2018. Excavations resumed and concluded in the Building 1, which dates in the LH IIIC Early. Research has been conducted as well in three more buildings (2a, 2b, 3), and in the looted chamber Tomb B. A survey in the plane of Miteles identified drainage works of later dates, which however may represent improvements and adaptation of works conceived already in the Mycenaean times. Finally, some considerations are advanced on the labour investment for the Kastrouli fortifications and its implications for its population calculation, and a brief overview of the results achieved thus far by the entire project.

Le tragiche testimonianze di una battaglia svoltasi durante l'età del Bronzo sono state documentate dalle ricerche in un santuario costiero del Salento riportato in luce nella splendida cornice della Baia di Torre dell'Orso nelle cui vicinanze si trova la vasta area archeologica di Roca Vecchia: la documentazione di questo sanguinoso fatto d'arme del II millennio a.C. ci porta a riflettere sulla costante della guerra nella storia dell'umanità

Der vorliegende Katalog der archäologischen Denkmale im Viertel unter dem Wienerwald ist das Ergebnis von 40 Jahre Forschungstätigkeit gemeinsam mit meiner Gattin Lieselotte. Dank gebührt auch den vielen Personen, welche unsere Arbeit unterstützt und ergänzt haben, so dass nunmehr der Fachwelt sowie allen Interessierten ein weitgehend kompletter Überblick über unsere archäologischen Denkmale geboten werden kann. Möge die Arbeit auch dazu beitragen, dass unser unersetzbares kulturelles Erbe noch länger erhalten bleibt. Wien, 2021 Hermann Schwammenhöfer. [Anm.: Die Arbeit wurde mit Erlaubnis und auf Wunsch von HR Hermann Schwammenhöfer unter anderem auf academia.edu und researchgate.net zur Veröffentlichung freigegeben. Die Arbeit ist auch im Langzeitarchiv www.archive.org in der unkomprimierten Qualität kostenlos abrufbar: https://archive.org/details/schwammenhofer-hermann-archaologische-denkmale-viertel-unter-dem-wienerwald-teil-1-wien-2021 ; Lehenbauer Harald]
Die Arbeit liegt in drei separaten PDF Dateien vor, die heruntergeladen werden können (oben links).

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24920.16642

Der früheisenzeitliche Fundplatz am Mont Lassois bei Vix (Dép. Côte d’Or, Frankreich) ist insbesondere durch das ausserordentlich reich ausgestattete Frauengrab bekannt sowie durch die komplex befestigte Plateausiedlung mit Monumentalbauten und Importen aus dem Mittelmeerraum.

Die Entdeckungen am Champ Fossé  bereichern die bisherigen Kenntnisse zum späthallstattlichen Fürstensitz am Mont Lassois insofern, als dass sie den Blick für das Alltägliche im Kontext des Extravaganten öffnen: Bauarbeiten, Handwerk, Wohnen – dies zur kurzen Blütezeit der Protourbs um 500 v. Chr. Die Ausgrabungen haben zudem gezeigt, dass das Champ Fossé in der Mittellatènezeit platzartig umgestaltet und den deformierten Waffenteilen nach zu urteilen kurzfristig für Kulthandlungen genutzt wurde. Damit ist die am Mont Lassois bisher einzige archäologische Kulturschicht aus der Latènezeit belegt.

In dieser Monografie werden die Befunde und Kleinfunde aus den Zürcher Ausgrabungen am Champ Fossé vorgelegt und in ihrem Zusammenhang besprochen.

>>> Synthèse française!
>>> English synthesis!

Auf Grundlage der stetigen Weiterentwicklung der Befestigungsanlagen zwischen ca. 5000 und 2000 v. Chr. in Südosteuropa und Kleinasien soll in diesem Buch exemplarisch ein Beitrag zum Verständnis der Hintergründe und Mechanismen kriegerischer Auseinandersetzungen sowie deren Auswirkungen
auf die hieran beteiligten Gesellschaften geleistet werden. Im
Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung stehen Befestigungsanlagen, die jedoch nicht aus architekturgeschichtlicher oder bauhistorischer Sicht bewertet werden sollen, sondern als Dokumente, die den Zusammenhang zwischen Siedlungswesen, Gesellschaft und kriegerischer Konfliktaustragung erhellen können.

This dissertation examines the evidence for status differentiation between residents of the Annis Village, a single mound Mississippian site along the banks of the Green River in Butler County, Kentucky. Excavations conducted by the Works Progress Administration (1939-1940) and Penn State (2002-2004) exposed over 7,000 m2 of the community, including the entire platform mound. A total of 34 structures, three palisades, and numerous other features were excavated, and over 20,000 artifacts were found. Status differences are normally measured using elaborate burials, fancy artifacts, and monumental architecture. However, most of these studies have focused on larger Mississippian sites that make up a proportionally low number of sites. Smaller mound sites, such as Annis, are much more numerous and have great potential to contribute to a more full understanding of Mississippian sociopolitical complexity. At Annis, comparison of mound (elite) and village (non-elite) materials do not reveal significant differences, leaving labor investment in monumental architecture as one of the few distinctions available. Using ethnographic and experimental data, I calculate the labor required to construct each stage of the platform mound, the structures on its summit, and the associated palisades, as well as the number of workers that would have been necessary to complete each task. The results indicate that labor investment, while crucially important to Mississippian societies, was not overly taxing on the local population and could have been accomplished easily by a relatively small number of people in a reasonably short period of time. Based on the lack of exotic items, I argue that the residents of Annis and other sites in the vicinity did not participate in a prestige-goods economy. Evidence of status is much more subtle and is reflected in the costs of monumental architecture.

This volume is yet another publication
in the Studien zur Archäologie in Ostmitteleuropa/
Studia nad Pradziejami Europy
Środkowej series. It is based on the author’s
doctoral dissertation concerning defensive
settlements in Central Europe. The latter
is one of the major focus areas in the archaeology
of the period around 2000 BCE,
encompassing numerous issues relating to
the key phenomena of the Early Bronze
age, such as social stratification, trade and
exchange, warfare and metal production.
At the same time, the book contributes to
the broader discussion on Bronze Age defensive
settlements presented as part of the
SAO/SPEŚ series, supplementing general
studies (volume 5), aspectual monographs
(volume 9) and the findings from research
conducted at the site in Bruszczewo (volumes
2, 13 and 14). This publication offers
a comparative study of four areas in Central
Europe: the Alpine region, south-western
Wielkopolska, the Middle Danube Basin
and Upper Tisza Basin, outlining a comprehensive
panorama of the phenomenon
and demonstrating regional variations. The
author delivers a well-ordered disquisition
concerning chief aspects of the functioning
of settlements in the aforesaid cultural-
-geographical regions, supported by abundant
data. Given the shortage of monographic
studies on the addressed issue,
this book constitutes a significant building
block in our knowledge about Bronze Age
settlement forms, and compellingly suggests
future directions of research.

Im Jahr 1994 reichte Daniel Bérenger seine Dissertation an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität in Münster ein, die die Vorrömische Eisenzeit und Römische Kaiserzeit im Nordosten Westfalens zum Thema hatte; sechs Jahre später wurde der chronologische Auswertungsteil dieser Arbeit in der „Bodenaltertümer Westfalens“-Reihe der LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen publiziert.
Eine ähnlich aktuelle und zusammenfassende Arbeit zu diesem chronologischen Abschnitt liegt hingegen für Südwestfalen, bzw. den Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg, nicht vor und wird mittelfristig auch nicht zu realisieren sein. Die Gründe für dieses Desiderat, aber vor allem auch aktuelle Aspekte zur Eisenzeit in Südwestfalen, fasst unser Beitrag an dieser Stelle zusammen, den wir Daniel zum Ruhestand widmen.
Nachfolgend sind zunächst die naturräumlichen Grundlagen und der Forschungsstand zur Eisenzeit Südwestfalens zu referieren, woran sich die separate Betrachtung der Lippe- und Hellwegzone und des Mittelgebirgsraumes zur Eisenzeit anschließen. Eine Synthese fasst schließlich neue Perspektiven für die zukünftige archäologische Erforschung dieser Epoche in Südwestfalen zusammen.

The discovery of Biskupin-type strongholds in Wielkopolska was one of the first publicly discussed archaeological issues in Poland. The first discovery, made in 1864 in Smuszewo, consisted of a system of wooden irrigation devices and settlement fortifications, then labeled the ‘palafitte’. The discovery itself prompted a debate concerning the earliest possible date for the beginning of human culture. For archaeology in Poland, this broader discussion was the first step towards leaving the pigeon-hole of sentimental collections of antiquities and moving on toward becoming a science. A discovery with a much greater influence, not only on intellectual circles, was made in the 1930s. The find in question was that of a number of wonderfully preserved wooden remains of a fortified settlement in Biskupin, quickly dubbed ‘the Pompeii of the North’. Excavation works, continued until the last days before the German attack of 1939, not only achieved flagship status in Polish archaeology, but also became the jewel in the crown of Polish science. Lately, Biskupin caused yet another revolution in Polish archaeology: dendrochronological research, which pushed the dating of the settlement’s inception back to the 8th century BC, upturned the theories based on the classification of artifacts (particularly ceramics). The shift in chronology, which moved the settlement’s origins back 200 years, made it impossible to speak of Biskupin-type settlements as the ‘ultimate stage in the development of the Lusatian settlement network’, or as a ‘symptom of urbanization based on Mediterranean models’, as they are now known to predate the possible cultural influences of Greek colonies by one-hundred years! It is equally inaccurate to link them to Scythian raids. The ‘dendro-revolution’ proved kinder to hypotheses regarding the economic and ecological conditions of the rise and fall of the settlements.

Contents:
342 Introduction
344 How to settle down by the lake
356 Society
358 Biskupin-type strongholds: their times and significance

Résumé
Contrairement à de nombreuses autres régions de France, la Basse-Normandie n’a jamais connu un engouement particulier pour l’étude des sites
fortifiés de hauteur protohistoriques. De ce fait les données disponibles sont non seulement rares mais généralement anciennes. Les fouilles récentes
du site de Basly « Le Campagne » (Calvados) ainsi que la conduite ces dernières années d’un programme de recherche dédié à cette problématique
ont permis de renouveler la documentation notamment sur l’attribution chronologique de ces sites. Ainsi il est apparu qu’en dehors du phénomène
des oppida, propre à La Tène finale, deux phases d’occupation récurrentes de ces sites fortifiés semblent se dessiner : les étapes moyenne et récente
du Bronze final (BF IIb/III) ainsi que la fin du Premier Âge du fer et le tout début du Second (Ha D/La Tène A). Les sites de la 1ère série sont tous
fondés au cours du Bronze final IIb/IIIa et abandonnés systématiquement au cours du Bronze final IIIb. Ceux de la seconde semblent tous fondés
au cours du Ha D puis abandonnés au début de La Tène Ancienne. Le début du Premier Âge du fer (Ha C) semble correspondre à un hiatus qui
est observable non seulement dans notre zone d’étude mais également dans toute la France non méditerranéenne.

Abstract
In contrast with many other areas of France, there has never been a time when study of the protohistoric hill-forts of Lower Normandy was very
fashionable. Available information is thus not only rare but generally gathered long since. Recent excavations at Basly « Le Campagne » (Calvados),
coupled with a research programme undertaken in recent years, have modified our knowledge of these sites, particularly with regard to their
dating. Apart from the oppida phenomenon, wholly attributable to Late La Tène, two phases have been identified during which such sites were
recurrently occupied: the middle-to-end of the Late Bronze Age (BF IIb/III), and the end of the First Iron Age and the very beginning of Early La
Tène (Ha D / La T A) The first series of sites was established during BF IIb/IIIa, only to be systematically abandoned during BF IIIb. The second
was founded during the course of Ha D then abandoned at the beginning of La T A. The first phase of the Iron Age, Ha C, corresponds to a hiatus
in the use of enclosed sites which is visible not only in the study area but also much more widely over non-Mediterranean France.

Coastal fortifIed settlements of southern Apulia during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC - At the very beginning of the II millennium BC many forti ed settlements were along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts of the Apulia and to a lesser extent in inland areas; the defense works were made up of dry-stone walls or earthworks sometimes associated with a moat. The most part of these settlements is placed in the territory of the Salento peninsula: they often stand on higher headlands especially along low and rocky shorelines or near to creeks and downrivers. Stratigraphic association with indigenous handmade pottery allow us to date these forti cation walls to local Protoappennine and Appennine facies. This pattern of settlement was probably intended to meet the need to defend both the settlements and the surrounding territory under their control; this should be seen as an indicator of a wider protohistoric framework of social and economic competition caused by the interaction of different local communities and Aegean groups.

ROCA. THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT AND FORTIFICATION WALLS - The most ancient layers investigated in the dwelling area of the protohistoric site of Roca probably date back to a late Protoapenninic phase, but currently the Middle Bronze Age settlement is well known for the striking evidence of the Apenninic fortification walls.The great fire, probably produced by a siege, destroyed the fortifications making the upper parts of the masonry to collapse burying the original contents of these spaces (posterns, gate and each area connected to the fortification) as it was shortly before the destruction. Inside the posterns there were tens of handmade complete pottery vessels preserving their functional position in association with different artefacts and next to mud-hearth plates and cooking stands.The most extraordinary discovery came from Postern C: several vessels were grouped in 3 different areas. In a fourth zone, at the western end of the corridor, another group of vessels was associated to 7 complete human skeletons, two adults, a juvenile and four children. Apparently, during the siege the members of this group had taken refuge within the corridor and finally tried to hide behind a heap of vessels. Unfortunately, they all died from asphyxia caused by the fire set to the fortification wall. The archaeological record from Postern C provides a unique possibility to correlate the quantitative, qualitative and spatial data relative to the artifacts assemblages, with the human group which had brought in those objects in order to survive in that space, had planned their spatial distribution, and had used them.The skeletal remains found in the Chamber S of the Monumental Gate can be related to the same warlike event: the male individual was probably killed during an armed conflict (he has an unhealed wound on a rib) and he had an Aegean-type bronze dagger and a Levantine-type duck pyxis made of hip- popotamus ivory.Nowadays the evidences related to the Middle Bronze Age dwelling area are still irregular and hetero- geneous: investigations showed the presence of organized open-air areas near the defensive wall (SAS VI 2004), remains of a well preserved hut (SAS X 2005) and some hypogeous and semi-hypogeous structures possibly related to religious activities.

The Middle Bronze Age fortified settlement of Scogli di Apani (Brindisi). Excavations 2008, 2009, 2011 - The investigations of coastal landscape archaeology in the State Natural Reserve and Marine Protected Area of Torre Guaceto (BR) started in 2007. In 2008, 2009 and 2011 archaeological excavations took place at the greater islet of Scogli di Apani; these two islands have a total extension of about 1,5 ha and they probably are what today still remains of a larger peninsula slowly eroded and partially submerged by the rising of the sea level during the last millennia. In the Sector A (about 30m2) the investigation allowed to provide the evidence of a small part of a dwelling structure (hut 1) destroyed by fire; many fragments of daub, the remains of a mud-hearth plate and some handmade impasto containers (mainly closed shapes) were found still in situ. In the Sector B (about 95m2) it was possible to recognize the remains of a large dwelling construction (hut 2) destroyed by fire too; the structural evidences are several postholes, some remains of stonework bases, 5 different mud-hearth plates and a large quantity of daub fragments. moreover many artefacts were found a good state of preservation and in their functional situation on the floor of the hut: numerous handmade impasto vessels, some bone and antler tools, many stone artefacts and some ornaments. The analysis of the handmade local pottery allows to date these evidences to the late protoapennine or to the ancient apennine.

Teichos Dymaion, the only prehistoric cyclopean fortified citadel of western Greece, occupies astrategic position between two lagoons (Pappas and Prokopos) at the southeastern tip of the so- called Mavra Vouna (black mountains), on a low rocky hill, roughly 60 m above sea level. The earliest documents of human presence are ceramic finds dating to the final Neolithic (late 4th-early 3rd mill. BC). The first permanent settlement was established during the Early Bronze Age (2800-2000 BC). Pottery finds of the Early Helladic III period (ca. 2200-2000 BC) indicate that Teichos Dymaion was part of a wider network of contacts along the central and eastern Mediterranean. The middle Helladic period (2000–1600 BC) is represented by a considerable pottery assemblage and more scanty architectural remains. The acme of the settlement was reached during the Mycenaean period (1600-1000 BC). The site took its current form during the 13th and 12th c. BC, with the expansion of the settlement and the construction of the cyclopean fortification. Teichos Dymaion became the gateway of western Achaea towards the west, a kind of naval base of the Mycenaean rulers of the region. The site remained in use more or less constantly until late antiquity. Modifications in the fortification, were carried out during the middle Byzantine period (11th c. AD). Habitation was sporadic during later periods and by the18th c. the site was practically abandoned. A large scale restoration project was implemented between 1998 and 2008. The site is now open to the public.