Paths to Complexity: Centralisation and Urbanisation in Iron Age Europe

Exploring the origins of urbanism – the emergence and development of the first cities, has long constituted one of the main challenges of archaeological and ancient historical research. Studying cities in a long-term and cross-cultural perspective links the past with the present, allowing a better understanding of one of the most important developments in human history. Moreover, archaeological research on ancient cities can contribute to a better understanding of contemporary processes of urbanisation. The 21 papers in this volume aim bring together the latest continental and English-speaking research with contributions by well-established researchers and younger colleagues providing innovative perspectives. The whole Iron Age – ca. 800 BC to the beginning of the Common Era – is considered on an international basis to consider such topics as the similarities and differences observed between centralisation and urbanisation processes of the Early and Late Iron Age; new approaches to the internal organisation of settlements and their formation processes; the supply management of central places and economic support from their environment; and the crucial role of sanctuaries in the formation of urban settlements. Contributions cover an area stretching from central Spain to Moravia and from southern France to Britain. The aim has been to produce a work of reference for readers interested in Iron Age archaeology in particular, and in urbanisation processes in general.

Table of Contents:
Preface Prof. Michael E. Smith GRAND NARRATIVES: THE RISE OF URBANISM IN TEMPERATE EUROPE 1. Introduction: Rethinking Iron Age Urbanisation, Manuel Fernández-Götz; Holger Wendling and Katja Winger 2. Urbanisation in Temperate Europe in the Iron Age: Mediterranean Influence or Indigenous?, John Collis TOWNS BEFORE THE OPPIDA: CENTRALISATION PROCESSES IN THE EARLY IRON AGE 3. Understanding the Heuneburg: A Biographical Approach, Manuel Fernández-Götz 4. Hallstattian Urban Experience before the Celtic Oppida in Central and Eastern Gaul. Two Cases-Studies: Bourges and Vix, Pierre-Yves Milcent 5. Places of Memory, Hero Cults and Urbanisation during the First Iron Age in Southeast Gaul, Raphaël Golosetti MODELLING COMPLEXITY: VILLAGES AND CITIES IN LATE IRON AGE EUROPE 6. Oppida and Urbanisation Processes in Central Europe, Vladimír Salač 7. Oppida, Production and Social Status –Complexity of the Late La Tène Period in Central Europe, Alžběta Danielisová 8. A Historical-Semantic Approach to the Concept of ‘Oppidum’. The Example of Bibracte, Dominik Lukas 9. Space, Architecture and Identity in Gaul in the 2nd/1st centuries BC, Sabine Rieckhoff 10. Symbolic Meanings of Iron Age Hill-Fort Defences in Continental Europe, Caroline von Nicolai OPEN AGGLOMERATIONS AND FORTIFIED CENTRES: FROM SITES TO LANDSCAPES 11. Roseldorf – An Enclosed Central Settlement of the Early and Middle La Tène Period in Lower Austria (Roseldorf/Němčice Centre), Veronika Holzer 12. Aspects of Iron Age Urbanity and Urbanism at Manching, Holger Wendling and Katja Winger 13. What’s in a Wall? Considerations on the Role of Open Settlements in Late La Tène Gaul, Tom Moore and Côme Ponroy 14. Enlarging Oppida: Multipolar Town Patterns in Late Iron Age Gaul, Matthieu Poux 15. Exploring Urbanisation in the Southern French Iron Age through Integrated Geophysical and Topographic Prospection, Ian Armit, Tim Horsley, Chris Gaffney, Frédéric Marty, Nathan Thomas, Robert Friel, and Ashley Haye 16. Interdisciplinary and Trinational Research into the Late La Tène Settlement Landscape of the Upper Rhine, Lars Blöck, Andrea Bräuning, Eckhard Deschler-Erb, Andreas Fischer, Yolanda Hecht, Corina Knipper, Reto Marti, Michael Nick, Hannele Rissanen, Norbert Spichtig, Muriel Roth-Zehner 17. Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul –A Factor of Crisis or Consolidation? The Otzenhausen Oppidum and its Environment, Sabine Hornung AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD? IBERIA AND BRITAIN 18. The Emergence of Urbanism in Early Iron Age Central Iberia, Jesús Álvarez-Sanchís and Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero 19. The Celtiberian Oppidum of Segeda, Francisco Burillo-Mozota 20. Are the Developed Hillforts of Southern England Urban?, Niall Sharples