Abstract:
The plateau of the Münsterberg of Breisach, covering some 10 hectares, is one of the few "princely sites" north of the Alps which has been at least partially excavated - with the first campaigns dating back to the nineteen-thirties - and which has yielded a large number of settlement remains. The two largest excavations were undertaken between 1980 and 1986 in the Kapuzinergasse and during the extension of the town hall. In this study the total of all discovered and recorded settlement structures and finds from the Late Hallstatt and Early Latène periods are analysed.
The largest part of the approx. 1000 kilograms of Hallstatt and Early Latène finds from the 127 pits and further settlement structures are ceramics. These - and comparative finds from other sites - were analysed formally and, if possible, in the original and in transparent cuts. Finds of foreign provenance, such as Vix-style ceramics and fragments of Dolia from Slovenia, as well as clearly imported fragments of amphorae from Massalia and Attic black- and red-figured vessels could be identified. Special attention was given to the wheeled pottery due its large proportion among the finds from the Late Hallstatt (Ha D3) and Early Latène periods. A progression of the wheeled pottery from the Late Hallstatt to the Early Latène was shown which is of appraisal on a chronological, formal and technological level. The introduction of a new temporal stage ("transitional period" or "Übergangszeit") proved to be sensible.
A mapping of the various assemblages of finds showed idiosyncrasies that were temporally specific, but not recognisably concentrated in certain areas. Craftsmen's quarters or "manors" could not be recognised. Finds of foreign provenance and wheeled pottery are spread evenly across the so-far surveyed settlement area. Solely a number of specially placed human burials in pits were discovered in a confined area.