Der Rhündaer Berg am Rande der Niederhessischen Senke

This volume presents the DFG-funded investigation of a small fortress-like hilltop settlement on the basalt knoll of Rhündaer Berg with a height of 338 m and an escarpment in the NW. It controlled the Lower Hessian Depression, the confluence of the rivers Schwalm and Eder, the ore deposits of the Eder Uplands, and a long-distance traffic route passing by, which represents the most important natural route through the Central German Highlands beside the Rhine valley. Scarce finds of the Rössen, Michelsberg, and Corded Ware Cultures and the late Urnfield period are followed by pottery, spindle whorls, slags, and plant remains of the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène Cultures, when the mountain was fortified with a 2.8 m wide timber-stone-wall of Type Ehrang in the S and NE and a palisade in the SE on an area of 0.7 ha. Additionally, there were two radial walls in the N and E running vertically downhill. On the plateau there was a single-phased settlement with a planned layout of parallel post buildings, e. g. a double-aisled main building of 6 m by 11 m and smaller single-aisled houses. Water was available in an artificially transformed hollow and at the foot of the mountain.