The Babilonie is a hillfort of the La Tène culture at a height of 255.6 metres above sea level on the northern edge of a rounded hill in the Wiehen Hills above the Lübbecke village of Obermehnen in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The name is derived from the Germanic baben in the lon i.e. "up in the woods".

Babilonie

Bodendenkmal Babilonie
Obermehnen in the Wiehen
Babilonie above Obermehnen
Babilonie is located in Germany
Babilonie
Babilonie
Coordinates52°16′36″N 8°34′36″E / 52.27667°N 8.57667°E / 52.27667; 8.57667
Typehill castle
CodeDE-NW
Height255 m above sea level (NHN)
Site information
Conditiondouble rampart system, earthwork
Site history
Built300-150 B.C.
MaterialsWooden posts and palisade protected by an earthwork
Garrison information
Occupantsno categorisation
Relief map of the Wiehen around the Babilonie

The wedge-shaped, double-rampart system, which descends from south to north with the slope, was investigated archaeologically in the first half of the last century, especially by Friedrich Langewiesche, who assessed it as a refuge castle.

Ceramic and even metalwork finds indicate that it belongs to the La Tène culture in the pre-Roman Iron Age, e vorrömische Eisenzeit, therefore probably part of an extensive trading network. The fortification has an area of over 12 hectares. The first mapping of this hilltop, which was exceptionally well-suited to the establishment of a large hillfort with its spring high up the hills, was carried out after 1880.[1]

Ceramic finds from the Saxon-Frankish period have also been discovered.

According to Paul Höfer there is a legend that refers to Wittekind.[2]

Sources

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  • Torsten Capelle: Wallburgen in Westfalen-Lippe. Herausgegeben von der Altertumskommission für Westfalen, Münster, 2010, ISSN 0939-4745, p. 22f. No. FBW 12 (Frühe Burgen in Westfalen Sonderband 1)

References

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  1. ^ Heinrich Schmidt: Die Babilonie in Geschichte und Sage. In: Gemeinde Blasheim (pub.): 969-1969. 1000 Jahre Gemeinde Blasheim. Druck: Bruns, Minden o. J. (1969), p. 84-89.
  2. ^ Paul Höfer: Der Feldzug des Germanicus Im Jahre 16. n.Chr. 1884, p. 88