En un regard
Le château en bref
The Kastelberg is a Protohistoric fortified hilltop site of the Hallstatt period, located in the communes of Kœstlach and Mœrnach in the Haut-Rhin department.
Since the excavations carried out by the German archaeologist Karl Sebastian Gutmann between 1903 and 1908, recent excavation campaigns and the re-examination of the early documentation, undertaken since 2011 by a team of archaeologists from the Pôle d'Archéologie Interdépartemental Rhénan under the direction of Michaël Landolt, have renewed understanding of the fortified hilltop site of the "Kastelberg".
To the south-west, the barrier rampart dating to the late Neolithic (late 5th to early 4th millennium BC) has a double-faced construction of small limestone slabs with a rubble core. Radiocarbon analyses and shell-tempered pottery confirm a date of roughly 4000 to 3400 BC. In the heart of the spur, the discovery of polished lithic material in pelite-quartz and knapped flint appears to indicate a Neolithic occupation in this area, which would support the hypothesis of a phase predating the Early Iron Age fortification.
A Bronze Age occupation is attested but remains difficult to characterise, notably due to the absence of fortification evidence for this period. A copper-alloy arrowhead, attributable to the Middle-to-Final Bronze Age, was found within the mass of the front barrier of rampart 1, probably in a secondary position.
The architecture of the double fortification of the Early Iron Age (late 7th to late 6th century BC) could be documented. The main barrier, located to the east, consists of a rampart with a battered outer facing. Two pits correspond to the positions of vertical posts that reinforced the structure and may suggest a particular arrangement (gateway, repair?).
The occupation layer behind the main rampart lies in a natural depression in the limestone bedrock, which favoured the trapping of material (animal bones, pottery, lithic and metal objects). Study of the pottery has allowed the occupation and the construction of rampart 1 to be dated to Hallstatt D1, or perhaps to the end of Hallstatt C.
The barrier fortification situated in front of the main one is marked by collapsed limestone slabs. A radiocarbon date, covering the end of Early La Tène and the beginning of Middle La Tène (roughly 410 to 230 BC), calls the chronology of the enclosures into question once again.
Inside the fortification, excavation revealed a heap of limestone slabs derived from the bedrock, forming a genuine terrace on the highest point of the spur. This was more likely a platform, facilitating the establishment of a settlement, than a defensive structure. The presence of animal bones, pottery and lithic material indicates occupation at the beginning of the Early Iron Age.
For the Late La Tène period (2nd to 1st century BC), the discovery, in the occupation layer behind the rampart, of a rim sherd characteristic of this period makes it possible to propose, for the first time, use of the site at the end of the Late Iron Age, although this cannot yet be specified.
