Structure and Economy of Temperate Europe's First Cities

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The late Iron Age site of Kelheim, located at the confluence of the Altmuhl and Danube rivers in Bavaria, Germany, covers an area of approximately 600 hectares of land and is enclosed by a wall about 3300 meters long. It provides mute testimony to the size and complexity of European "cities" which existed before Julius Caesar and his Roman legions marched northward and conquered large portions of Western Europe. While archaeologists have known for some time that such indigenous sites existed little is understood about how they developed and functioned. This project, under the direction of Dr. Peter Wells, will shed new light on this process. Following a preliminary season of excavation, Dr. Wells and his colleagues will now conduct an additional two field seasons of work at Kelheim. They will open broad horizontal areas to expose structural and artifactual remains. They will analyze the artifacts they recover, as well as associated floral and faunal materials. Large heaps of iron slag indicate that large scale metal production was carried out, and the team's research will also focus on this. Slag and iron samples will be collected and subjected to laboratory analysis to provide insight into the manufacturing process. Archaeologists wish to know how these early sites were organized and the extent to which a strong central authority existed. By examination of the spatial distribution of activities across the site as well as the degree of standardization of manufactured remains, this question can be addressed. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide additional information on a little-understood aspect of European prehistory. It will shed new light on how complex societies such as our own first arose and were maintained. Finally, it will contribute to the training of several graduate students.