Rüdiger Krause Fortresses and Fortifications. on Fortified Hilltop
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Fortresses and Fortif cations 1 Rüdiger Krause Fortresses and Fortif cations. On Fortif ed Hilltop Settlements of the Bronze Age T e construction of fortif ed settlements upon mountain summits and mountain spurs signif es a new form of defensive architecture for the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC, which we designate ‘Bronze Age’ hill- forts or fortresses. With mighty walls and gates built using various techniques with wood, clay and stone, the fortif ed hill settlements manifest an eminent need for protection from assault, while at the same time they were obviously centres of power, from which territories and natural resources as well as travel routes could be controlled. Within the focus of the Hesse excellence initiative LOEWE “Prehistoric Conf ict Research – Bronze Age Fortif cations between Taunus and Carpathian Mountains” new approaches are made on the subject “War and Fortresses as Architecture of Power” in 2016–2019. T ese studies are being carried out by the Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main and the Römisch-Germanische Kommission in Frankfurt/Main.1 T e objective was to observe the development and character of fortif ed structures in cultural spheres south of the Alps and landscapes north of the Alps in diachronic comparison in order to better understand the genesis and function of fortif cations in their cultural milieu. War and fortresses – architecture of power1 were instrumental that a fortif ed settlement was built on the summit of one particular mountain or As of the Early Bronze Age fortif ed hill settlements hill and not on one of the neighbouring heights? with walls commonly built of wood, earth and What cultural background can be named in this stone (Fig. 1) began to appear increasingly along regard? What role did metallurgy, the production the Danube River as well as in cultural spheres and and development of weapons for attack and those geographical landscapes adjoining to the north in for long distances play? Above all, what develop- Central Europe. T is new building of defensive ar- ments occurred in the political (power-) structure chitecture reached a peak in the Late Bronze Age, that underlay all of these aspects? and numerous hill summits were fortif ed by some- T erefore, the focus here is – on the one hand – times massive walls or ramparts (Figs. 2-3).2 What on weaponry and the obviously increasing po- were the causes and underlying factors that stimu- tential of conf ict or violence based on new tech- lated this new development in the construction of niques in weapons and f ghting, and – on the other settlements and defences in the course of the 2nd – the new phenomenon of fortresses being built. millennium BC? What natural or economic factors Both of these factors open a new sociohistorical perspective of violent conf icts in the Bronze Age.3 For not only do the epics of Homer describe war- 1 Hansen/Krause 2017; see also the LOEWE homepage: like aggression of violent dimensions; also the f rst http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/61564916/LOEWE- appearance of weapons exclusively meant for kill- Schwer punkt (last call 27.10.2018). – Within the frame- ing humans, such as the sword, or the erection of work of the second international LOEWE conference mighty walls around settlements lead to the im- on “Bronze Age Fortresses in Europe” in Alba Iulia (Ro- mania) in 2017, the focus was on fortif cations and hill- pression that war and conf ict reached a new di- 4 fort landscapes of the Mediterranean, from the Levan- mension during the Bronze Age. tine coast in the East through Asia Minor and the Greek islands to the Italian Peninsula and the Adria, and as far as the Iberian Peninsula, see LOEWE-homepage http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/65329449/Konferenz- 3 Hansen 2013; 2015. 2017 (last call 27.10.2018) 4 Hansen 2015; O‘Brien et al. 2018; Peter-Röcher 2018; 2 Jockenhövel 1982; 1990; Rind 1999. Veit 2018. 2 Rüdiger Krause Warlike confrontations and events of aggres- tion.10 So-called ‘glass castles’ or Schlackenwälle sion are evidenced in contexts of unusual archaeo- are a well-known phenomenon that until now logical f ndings. Here to emphasise are excavations has been attested mainly in Iron Age fortresses in on the Heunischenburg near Kronach in Upper central and northern Europe, foremost the British Franken.5 T is small, rather unassuming fortif ca- Isles.11 T e term ‘vitrif ed fort’ designates a com- tion is situated upon a hill spur at a distance from pletely burnt fortif cation that was originally built the actual associated settlement. Archaeological of wood, earth and stone and whose constructive f eldwork revealed that the complex had been components were ‘baked’ together due to extremely enclosed by a sandstone wall in the 10th century high temperatures of f re. In some cases the stones BC and then in the 9th century BC was expanded are partly glazed (vitrif ed): for example, basalt into a mighty stronghold with a 3.5-m high and melts at temperature above 1000 °C.12 Examples of 2.6-m wide stone wall with a gate. T e construc- burnt fortif cation walls of the Bronze Age within tion of the gate can be ascribed to Mediterranean the study area of the LOEWE project are found on prototypes. Indeed, early defensive structures the Haimberg near Fulda,13 the Middle Bronze Age along the Danube River and in the Alps have long fort in Bernstorf in upper Bavaria,14 and the large been correlated with east Mediterranean, Myce- Late Bronze Age fortif cation in Corneşti-Iacuri in naean inf uences.6 T e great number of weapons Romania.15 T ese examples demonstrate that burnt found at the wall indicates that battles took place fortif cation walls were already present in the 14th at the Heunischenburg: many fragments of sword century BC and that this phenomenon reaches blades, spearheads, c. 100 arrowheads as well as back to the Middle Bronze Age. T rough systematic parts of armament made of bronze, defective or analyses and new excavations more details could bent, were found along the massive fortif cation be explained and further indicators gained, which wall.7 Direct traces of warlike conf ict and slaugh- provide information about the causes of the de- ter are provided by sensational f nds and contexts struction and burning of fortif cations and which from the Tollense valley in Mecklenburg-Vorpom- clarify whether these events can be attributed to mern.8 T us far, a great number of human bones warlike conf icts or to the ritual destruction and – accounting for more than 130 individuals and the intentional eradication of defence walls.16 scattered together with horse bones and weapons – Our investigations also concern the environ- have been discovered in a c. 1.5-km long section of ment of fortresses and their inf uence upon Bronze the valley and excavated at sites or retrieved from Age settlement in dif erent cultural and geographi- the river by divers. T e f nds date to the middle of the 13th century BC. Some of the human bones display wounds caused by blows and slashes. Re- 10 On the burnt fortif cation of Bernstorf: Gebhard et al. cent investigations have concluded that there was 2004; Bähr et al. 2012; Bähr in press; further, O’Brien/ a single battle event, in which possibly as many as O’Driscoll 2017; O’Brien et al. 2018. 11 See Ralston 2006; for Ireland, cp. O’Brien/O’Driscoll several thousand warriors and other persons were 2017. 9 involved. 12 On investigations about the Glauberg in Hesse, cp. Conf ict can be evidenced by horizons of fre- Baitinger/Kresten 2012. quent events of burning and destruction. Burnt 13 Vonderau 1901; 1929b. – T e Haimberg is located fortif cations were possibly the result of siege and c. 5 km west of Fulda and consists of a basalt cone successful destruction of the walls. However, it with muschelkalk. Basalt was quarried there until is also debated that the burning of fortif ed walls 1998, for which reason the summit of the mountain has been eradicated. Nonetheless, today the Haim- might also be attributed to a ritual and intentional berg is still 416 m high. In prehistoric times a vitrif ed performed event, for instance, in association with wall encircled the summit, enclosing an area of 1.3 ha. the abandonment and annihilation of a popula- Today all has been completely destroyed. Among the f nds, those dated to the Urnf eld culture predomi- nate, especially the numerous f nds made of bronze. 5 Abels 2002. Cf. Vonderau 1929a; Hansen 1991. 6 For Slovakia cp. Furmánek et al. 1999; for the Alps cp. 14 Gebhard et al. 2004; Bähr et al. 2012; Bähr in press. Krause 2005. 15 Heeb et al. 2017 with more references. 7 Abels 2002 Fig. 30a Pls. 16-21. 16 Benjamin Richter M.A. is studying the burnt fortif - 8 Jantzen et al. 2014; Terberger et al. 2014; 2018. cations of the Bronze Age as PhD thesis within the 9 Terberger et al. 2018. frame of the LOEWE project. Fortresses and Fortif cations 3 cal landscapes.17 T e line of inquiry involve the ex- communities. T ereby, our guiding premise is that tent to which changes can be recognised on hand Bronze Age fortif cations should not necessarily of the respective economic bases, which af ected be understood as the expression of acute conf icts, use systems as well as the exploitation of natural but instead far more as the expression of the “ex- resources.