In the northern Alpine region, the end of the Hallstatt princely complexes around 450-420 c. BC remains enigmatic today. Unable to resolve this question, researchers generally suggest that the collapse of this culture was linked to a combination of internal and external problems. This suggestion is not wrong, but it conflates all possible causes without ultimately identifying any of them.

This presentation proposes to compare the contexts and chronology of the destruction of the Hallstatt princely complexes in the northern Alpine region. Indeed, most of them, such as La Heuneburg (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), Vix (Côte d'Or, France) and Bourges (Cher, France) show archaeological evidence of destruction by fire, with in some cases successive fires, as at La Heuneburg (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Others reveal statues broken into pieces, as at Glauberg (Germany), or with amputated heads, as at Vix.

My objective is to examine the archaeological evidence revealing the destruction of princely complexes and to compare the chronology and conditions of these destructions. From there, it should be possible to propose new hypotheses that will lead us either towards the presumption of wars of conquest or invasions, or towards internal destroys leading to the implosion of the Hallstatt princely system.

First Author: Sophie Krausz

Keywords:
Hallstatt princely complexes
north-alpine region
5th c. BC
destructions
collapse
conflicts