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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Les établissements de hauteur défendus protohistoriques en France (XXIIe-Ier siècles av. J.-C.)

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A review of current knowledge is proposed based on updated data for 1330 fortified sites on high ground. These, for the most part, have been explored on too limited an area to understand their precise nature and status. Generally, they are located on spurs and cover a very small area, particularly in the Southeast. Only a quarter of them exceed 7 ha. The size of the fortifications is also an essential criteria, but it was only possible to address it from one clue – the length: the range of disparities are very wide there also; but, we note that this length doubles on average at the end of the Iron Age. The materials of the ramparts reveal trends: earth dominates in the northwest half, stone in the southeast half; wooden frames are scattered, but rarer near the Mediterranean. At the French national as well as at the regional level, the chronological curves of the occupations are very comparable and punctuated by three peaks, of increasing magnitude, at the end of the Bronze Age, the Early and the Late Iron Age. These evolutionary similarities underscore the importance of causalities on a supraregional and intercultural scale. However, there is no consensus on the interpretation of the defended sites’ development during Protohistory.