Enclosed Oppidum

Enclosed Oppidum

An oppidum (plural oppida) is a large defended Iron Age settlement. They emerged in the Bronze age and spread across Europe, stretching from Britain in the west to the edge of the Hungarian plain in the east. They continued in use until the Romans began conquering Europe. North of the River Danube, where the population remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century.

One of the oldest known are Heuneburg, the first settlement on the site dates to the 15th to 12th century BC and reach its peak in around 600 BC with a population numbering up to as many as 10.000. Other large oppidums were Bibracte with 25.000 people, and Alecia with around 25.000 people on the eve of the Roman invasion in 52 BC.