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 180 metres (590 ft). 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 CelticLa Tene period, a span of almost a thousand years (1200 BC – 300 BC).[1] The summit was already levelled, fortified and densely settled in the Urnfield period.[2][3] 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. [4]
Gallery
Ipf mountain
View showing remains of fortifications
Aerial view
Remains of fortifications
Remains of fortifications
Remains of fortifications
Diagram of fortifications
Reconstructed fortification wall/ rampart of the early La Tene period (5th century 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.
^Krause, Rüdiger (July 2021). "Mount Ipf in southern Germany. The fortification, spatial organization and territory of a "Princely Seat" of the Early Iron Age". Vix et le phénomène princier. ISBN978-2-35613-360-1.
^Krause, Rüdiger (July 2021). "Mount Ipf in southern Germany. The fortification, spatial organization and territory of a "Princely Seat" of the Early Iron Age". In Brun, Patrice; Chaume, Bruno; Sacchetti, Federica (eds.). Vix et le phénomène princier. ISBN978-2-35613-360-1.