Ipf (mountain)

The Ipf is a mostly treeless mountain ( high), near Bopfingen, Ostalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a prehistoric hill fort on its top.

The fort is situated on an isolated hill, with a flattened summit surrounded by a stone wall, ditch and large counterscarp (outer bank). The overall diameter is about . Extensive ramparts traverse the slopes to protect a large enclosed area and entranceway. There is evidence of occupation from the Bronze Age (Urnfield culture) through the Iron Age to the early Celtic La Tene period, a span of almost a thousand years (1200 BC – 300 BC).F. Hertlein: Die vorgeschichtlichen Befestigungen auf dem Ipf. Blätter des Schwäbischen Albvereins, 23. Jg. (1911), Nr. 2, S. 48–55 und Nr. 3, S. 68–74. The summit was already levelled, fortified and densely settled in the Urnfield period. During the early Iron Age Hallstatt period and into the early La Tène period the Ipf was an important 'princely seat' – a regional centre of power and aristocratic residence with long-distance trade connections, including with Greece and Italy.

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See also Urnfield culture Hallstatt culture La Tene culture Heuneburg Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave Hohenasperg Glauberg Vix Grave Burgstallkogel Ipf bei Bopfingen German-language wikipedia page with more information Alte Burg (Langenenslingen) Magdalenenberg Lavau Grave Oppidum of Manching

External links Mount Ipf in southern Germany. The fortification, spatial organization and territory of a “Princely Seat” of the Early Iron Age (Krause 2021) Crossing the Alps: Early Urbanism between Northern Italy and Central Europe (900-400 BC), Edited by Lorenzo Zamboni, Manuel Fernández-Götz & Carola Metzner-Nebelsick (2020) Includes a visual reconstruction of the Ipf hillfort. Digital animation/ reconstruction of the Ipf hillfort Ipf

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