Oppidum Steinsburg
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Steinsburg is the colloquial name for the remains of a Celtic ''
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
'' on the Kleiner Gleichberg in the German state of South Thuringia. It is located within the county of
Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...
by Waldhaus near the small town of
Römhild Römhild () is a town in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 14 km west of Hildburghausen, and 21 km southeast of Meiningen. On 31 December 2012, it merged with the former municipalities Gleichamberg, ...
. The Kleiner Gleichberg (641 m) and the neighbouring Großer Gleichberg (679 m) form a pair of "geological twins". Both mountains are
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
cones which are volcanic in origin. The name Steinsburg (867: Steinberg) ("stone castle") probably derives from the large stone fields that surround the mountain summit plateau.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
recognised the volcanic origin of these stone fields: the
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
of the former
volcanic pipe Volcanic pipes or volcanic conduits are subterranean geological structures formed by the violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin volcanoes. They are considered to be a type of ''diatreme''. Volcanic pipes are composed of a deep, narrow cone o ...
crumbled as a result of
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
to form the blockfields visible today that are a typical indicator of collapsed
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...
structures. These basalt blocks were used in Celtic times for the construction of
dry stone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...
s that probably protected the ''oppidum''. A total of three rings of walls were built surround the mountain like city walls. The outermost wall is three kilometres long and encloses an area of 66 hectares. Only a few short sections of these walls have been partially preserved, but the collapsed sections enable the old structure to be made out. In clearing large parts of the stone field for roadbuilding (from 1838), metal objects and other artefacts were discovered that were later recognised as of Celtic origin. The increasing amount of basalt quarrying from 1858 destroyed parts of the hillfort, especially the easily accessible lower wall rings and brought a huge quantity of archaeological finds to the surface, of which mainly the metal objects have survived in various collections. On the initiative of Alfred Götze, the quarrying was stopped between 1902 and 1927. In 1929 the Steinsburg Museum was built on the saddle between the Großer and Kleiner Gleichberg and this is where the majority of finds are still on display today. The Gleichberge are thought by several researchers to the same place mentioned in the ''
Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
'' of
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
as the settlement of Bicurgium.Sabine Rieckhoff/Jörg Biel: ''Die Kelten in Deutschland''. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2001, p. 457 In the specialist and local history literature, the names Kleiner Gleichberg and Steinsburg are both used to refer to the hillfort. The widespread destruction has led to the uncovering of an unusually high number of finds, especially metal objects. However, often the location and connexion of the finds was not noted. In addition, the older finds include very few items of pottery, because pieces of old ceramic vessels were not looked after in the 19th century. Excavations were carried out as early as 1874 by a Romhild doctor. In the early 20th century systematic excavations were carried out by prehistorian, Alfred Götze. In recent times several of the surviving fortification remains have been conserved, but in some cases had to be dismantled and re-assembled. File:Steinsburgmuseum 045.JPG, Model of the Steinsburg hillfort at the Steinsburg Museum File:Steinsburgmuseum 046.JPG, Model of Celtic buildings at the Steinsburg File:Steinsburgmuseum 078.JPG, Model of Celtic buildings at the Steinsburg File:Steinsburgmuseum 062.JPG, Celtic artefacts from the Steinsburg File:Aussicht Kleiner Gleichberg Süd.jpg, View from the Kleiner Gleichberg File:Kleiner Gleichberg Hildburghausen Basaltfelder (1 von 4).jpg, Remains of stone ramparts on the Kleiner Gleichberg File:Steinsburg 03.JPG, Remains of a wall on the Kleiner Gleichberg File:Steinsburg 10.JPG, Remains of a wall on the Kleiner Gleichberg File:Steinsburg-022.jpg,
Rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...
remains around the settled area of the Steinsburg File:Steinsburg-078.jpg, Western rampart around the settled area of the Steinsburg


References


Literature

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External links


Description & site plan
{{Coord, 50.412091, N, 10.592884, E, type:landmark_region:DE-TH, display=title Oppida Archaeological sites in Germany Hildburghausen (district)