Závist Celtic Hillfort 600 BCE

The fort of Závist in Bohemia occupies a hill, overlooking a river and fertile landscape. It was first occupied late in the Hallstatt phase of Celtic culture. Initially unfortified, the Acropolis enclosure at its summit may have been a ceremonial site. Around 500 BCE, and earthwork rampart was added, topped with a timber palisade, later replaced by a stone wall. By this stage, it was either a settlement occupied by the ruling class of the local Boii tribe of Celts, or a refuge for the settlements of the surrounding floodplain of the River Voltava in times of emergency. Závist was abandoned around 400 BCE, shortly before the Boii appear in northern Italy and begin to clash with the Etruscans and Romans: the connection between these events is unclear. It would be reoccupied in the early 2nd century BCE; again, the timing is suggestive – the Boii were driven from their Italian capital Mutina in 193 BCE. Teutons, who had been displaced by Roman legions, burnt Závist to the ground in c. 15 BCE.