Ipf (mountain)

The Ipf is a mostly treeless mountain (668 metres (2,192 ft) high), near Bopfingen, Ostalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a prehistoric hill fort on its top.

Ipf
Ipf
Highest point
Elevation	668 m (2,192 ft)
Coordinates	48°52′14″N 10°21′23″E
Geography
Ipf Location within Baden-Württemberg
Location	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Parent range	Swabian Jura

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 Celtic La 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

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  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)
• 
  Reconstruction of rampart and building (left)

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