Hilltop sites in the central Alpine region: Characterisation and contextualisation of a settlement form at the transition between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages

Wyss, Annina (22 September 2021). Hilltop sites in the central Alpine region: Characterisation and contextualisation of a settlement form at the transition between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages (Unpublished). In: Workshop “Intentions and Meaning: A comparative view of Late Antique Hilltop sites in Europe”. National Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana. 22. - 24. 9. 2021.

In the following, the areas of the Alpine Rhine Valley south of Bregenz/Brigantium and the inner Alpine region of the Canton of Graubünden will be presented with regard to their settlement development between the end of the 3rd and the 8th century. The focus is on hilltop settlements, while graves, churches and individual finds are not discussed.
In the late 3rd and especially in the 4th century, the Limes was moved back and several forts (Bregenz/Brigantium; Schaan, Kastell; Weesen and Irgenhausen) were built in what is today eastern Switzerland and the lower Alpine Rhine valley, so that the region belonged to the rear line of fortifications of the Imperium romanum. During this same period (end of the 3rd and 4th centuries), the rural settlements (Gutshöfe), which occur only in the lower Rhine valley and not in the Alpine regions, are abandoned. From the 3rd and especially then in the 4th century, the heights are resettled in large numbers. What all the hilltop settlements discussed below have in common is their use in prehistoric times and a subsequent decline in finds from the first three centuries AD. It is nevertheless striking that, especially in the Alpine region, individual finds from the 1st – 3rd centuries regularly occur in the area of the hilltop settlements. This is probably due to the fact that, because of the topography in the Alpine region, the heights have always been in the focus.
In terms of sources, it should be noted that the find material is sparse and the circulation of coins stops completely at the end of the 4th century. Therefore, dating is based in most cases on a few individual finds, which makes a possible continuity between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages difficult to grasp. In addition, many sites have only been insufficiently excavated and/or excavated very early, so that for most of them no interpretable building structures are recognizable. Extensively excavated (but only insufficiently published) are Schaan "Krüppel" (No. 9), Castiel "Carschlingg" (No.16) and Malader's "Tummihügel" (No. 15).
What is described here as a hilltop settlement is in fact a conglomerate of different settlement forms with the common feature of their elevated position. Thus some have a surrounding enclosure (No. 4 Göfis "Heidenburg", No. 5/6 Nenzing "Stellfeder" and "Scheibenstuhl"; No. 8 Gamprin "Lutzengüetle", No. 16 Castiel "Carschlingg"), while others demonstrably did not have one or it was not recorded. Whether these walls had fortification functions cannot be clarified at present. Also in most cases, there are no indications of the economic source of these settlements. It is also conceivable that some of them were only visited for a short time, seasonally or once (coin hoard). Conclusions about the inhabitants (men, women, children) are difficult to draw, although it can be stated that a military component can be almost entirely ruled out. It seems that primarily the local population lived in the hilltop settlements here. The presence of North African Sigillata (African red slip) and amphorae as well as pottery from today’s southern Germany (“germanische Keramik”) and northern Italy (glazed Pottery), together with the topographical location on the important traffic axes, testifies that trade relations were maintained in most of the settlements until the 7th century. Whether the settlement location on the heights was actually chosen for protection against external threats is at least doubtful. Many of these hilltop settlements are well visible and are situated on important traffic routes. Visibility, however, would probably not be desirable in the event of a threat. In this discussion of the external threat and protective function of hilltop settlements, it can be noted that at least three valley settlements (No. 26 Schiers "Chrea", No. 27 Riom "Cadra, No. 28 Zernez) are attested for the Alpine region from the 4th century onwards.
It is interesting that a tendency emerges with regard to the period of use of these settlement sites. While in the lower Rhine valley (north of Chur) almost all hilltop settlements (with the exception of No. 10 Wartau "Ochsenberg") were only used for a short time in the 4th century, those in the alpine regions seem to have been used significantly longer into the early Middle Ages. Whether the upper class of the early Middle Ages emerged here cannot be said with absolute certainty at the moment. Finds at Wartburg "Ochsenberg" (No. 10) and at Sagogn "Schiedberg" (No. 18) show that a higher upper class must be expected here. The latter was then also mentioned in the Tello Testament (765).
Only in two cases (No. 21 Hohenrätien and No. 19 Trun "Grepault") did a church arise at a hilltop settlement, which raises the question of how Christianity was spread. Churches do not seem to have been a feature of this type of settlement.

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