Alcimoennis

About

Alcimoennis or Alkimoennis is the name widely attached to a Celtic Oppidum, or hill fort above the modern town of Kelheim in Bavaria, Germany. The name comes from Ptolemy, who in his Geography, only mentioned the name and described the location of the settlement. There is some controversy over the identification of the Kelheim remains with Alcimoennis, but it is still widely accepted.

Location: The oppidum was located on the Michelsberg hill, dominating the peninsula at the confluence of the Danube and the Altmühl rivers near Kelheim.

History: The peninsula has been inhabited more or less constantly since 13,000 BCE and the Celts built there as early as 500 BCE. Findings indicate the presence of an early La Tène period settlement near the Altmühl delta. Numerous storage cellars have been found, interpreted to have been part of three farms with at least 15 buildings from the period of 450 to 380 BCE. For the middle La Tène period (380 to 150 BCE) few signs of local settlement have been discovered: a grave yielded four mid-La Tène fibulae and another a sword with scabbard from the third or second century BCE. The oppidum dates to the late La Tène period, however...