Die urnenfelder-/hallstattzeitliche Wallanlage von Stillfried an der March

The subject of this volume is the ceramic finds from the late Urnfield to late Hallstatt settlement of the Hügelfeld excavation site in the Stillfried embankment complex, which was excavated from 1969 to 1989. Particular emphasis is given to the changes in the material culture from the Urnfield to the Hallstatt periods. The findings were arranged typologically and chronologically using computer-aided seriation. Six successive settlement phases were revealed through direct comparison with relevant contemporaneous material from the nearer and further surrounding geographical area, as well as archaeometric analysis of the site’s pottery, determining the area’s clay composition. Phases I to III/2 span the Urnfield period settlement. The site developed, without a break, from a relatively small settlement within a stockade to a densely populated community, fortified with an embankment and ditch. The final phase of development is characterised by evidence of metallurgy and considerable Hallstatt influence from the west. Violent destruction of the fortifications abruptly ended the Urnfield period settlement. Anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains shows that the settlement’s inhabitants of this period were scarred by illness and malnutrition. Settlement phases IV and V cover the Hallstatt period. In this period the settlement was not fortified. The Urnfield culture’s traditions dissipated and, above all during phase V, were replaced by the material culture of the Hallstatt period. Sunken, rectangular pits that were used for both living and working (as seen by weavers’ huts) are characteristic of this period.