Große Heuneburg

Zwiefalten, Germany, Germany

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The Große Heuneburg is a large early Celtic hillfort settlement located on a forested ridge about 2 kilometers southwest of Upflamör, a village in Zwiefalten, Reutlingen district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at 716 meters elevation roughly 90 meters above the valley floor.

The fortified complex consists of a main castle covering approximately 5 hectares surrounded by ramparts and a nearly square 1.5-hectare annex (Vorburg) to the north that is slightly lower and separated from the main fort by a ditch, with a spur called the "Flankenburg" outside the fortification on the southeast side.

Dating to the 8th through 6th centuries BCE (Hallstatt period), the site was built at the same time as the nearby Heuneburg at Herbertingen-Hundersingen and the Alte Burg at Langenenslingen, forming part of a comprehensive early Celtic settlement and fortification system with surrounding unfortified farms, hamlets and villages.

Archaeological excavations, first conducted poorly in the late 19th century and resumed in 2016 after nearly 100 years of no digging, revealed massive early Celtic fortification walls, the remains of a large 16×9 meter building, pottery, animal bones, and postholes dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, proving the site was intensively settled during the early Celtic period.