page_title: Urnfield culture
section_title: Settlements
hierarchical_section_title: Urnfield culture / Settlements
caption_attribution_description: The Burgstallkogel (Grillkogel) in the Sulm valley, the site of an Urnfield and Hallstatt culture settlement from 800-600 B.C.
context_page_description: The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields. Over much of Europe, the Urnfield culture followed the Tumulus culture and was succeeded by the Hallstatt culture. Linguistic evidence suggests that the people of this area spoke a form of Italo-Celtic, and/or early Celtic, perhaps originally Proto-Celtic.
context_section_description: The number of settlements increased sharply in comparison with the preceding Tumulus culture. Unfortunately, few have been comprehensively excavated.
  Fortified settlements, often on hilltops or in river-bends, are typical for the Urnfield culture. They are heavily fortified with dry-stone or wooden ramparts. Excavations of open settlements are rare, but they show that large 3-4 aisled houses built with wooden posts and wall of wattle and daub were common. Pit dwellings are known as well; they might have served as cellars.
caption: Site of a hill fort, Urnfield Culture, Burgstallkogel (Sulm valley)
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