Talk:Oppidum

Inconsistent Latin usage

The title of the article is Oppidium, and Oppidia is used throughout to indicate plural, as in Latin. However, the first word of the definition section is Oppidia, which should be Oppidium. The word Oppidia is Latin, not English. Oppidiums should probably be used to indicate plural. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.183.225.227 (talk) 21:24, 11 June 2012 (UTC)

Oppida is the plural used in the English archaeological literature. Therefore it's both Latin and English, and as far as I can tell this article sticks to that convention consistently. I've never even seen oppidums.

A quick Google scholar search backs this up: [1][2] joe•roe^t•c 11:44, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Populations

I've removed a statement from the article which claimed Other large oppida were Bibracte with 25.000 people, and Alesia with around 25.000 people on the eve of the Roman invasion in 52 BC.. The immediate problem was that neither of these figures were referenced, so it was unclear where this information came from, but on top of that the population of an oppidum is difficult to estimate and would be better presented as a range. Unless a large proportion of an oppidum has been excavated it is problematic to extrapolate population figures. To take an example from another period, the Roman town of Pompeii is well excavated (most of it has been exposed) and even then estimates vary from 12,000 to 20,000. Nev1 (talk) 19:00, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

The Heuneburg

In November 86.52.104.44 (talk · contribs) wrote that oppidum emerged in the Bronze Age and The Heuneburg was an oppidum from the 15th century BC. I have reverted this change and it's only fair that I explain why here (I would do so on the IP's talk page but there's not guarantee the person who made the edits is using it any more).

The statement was supported by a source, a page from exarc.net, which states "The Heuneburg in Baden-Württemberg is a famous Celtic Oppidum from the Early Iron Age, the Middle European Hallstatt Period (7th - 5th century BC)". It is policy on Wikipedia to source information and this was a step in the right direction, however there are more reliable sources available. Professor Greg Woolf of the University of St Andrews might reasonably be expected to be more of an authority on oppdia that exarc and according to him they emerged in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, as explained in the article.

According to the Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1 pages 912 to 915, The Heuneburg was a hillfort rather than an oppidum and had fallen out of use by around 400BC, long before the period Woolf identified as the start of the period when oppida began to develop. In part this may have originated from a certain inconsistency in the way the term is applied, as the definition section explains, but for Wikipedia's purposes I think we should probably stick with the likes of Woolf and co when it comes to deciding what is and isn't an oppida. Nev1 (talk) 19:33, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Which Late Iron Age?

Right now, the article refers to the estimated population of Europe in the Late Iron Age, without citation. I think it's important to clarify which Iron Age is involved. I assume it's probably the Late [Pre-Roman] Iron Age. In some areas, the Roman expansion is considered the end of the 'true' Iron Age and the beginning of the Roman Age. In others, it's considered the end of the Pre-Roman Iron Age and the beginning of the Roman Iron Age, followed by the Post-Roman Iron Age. 173.66.211.53 (talk) 19:10, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

The reference is at the end of the paragraph, McIntosh (2009), p. 349, so I've removed the "citation needed" tags. The definition of her book uses seems to be the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. so I've added a note in brackets explaining what is meant by the Late Iron Age which is admittedly a variable concept, especially when moving between regions. Nev1 (talk) 20:25, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Sion, Switzerland is it an Oppidum?

Just wondered why Sion, now in Switzerland is not listed? It has two perfectly defensible peaks, and certainly has the "age" to be considered! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sion,_Switzerland , and this old representation; http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il/switzerland/sion/maps/braun_hogenberg_I_37.html 96.19.147.40 (talk) 22:47, 1 May 2013 (UTC)Ronald L. Hughes

There is, not to put too fine a point on it, plenty of confusion surrounding what is and is not an oppidum. That site is interesting, but I'd be curious as to whether academics consider it an oppidum. Secondly, the sites listed in the second half of the article are intended as examples rather than a comprehensive list, so some will undoubtedly be missed out. Nev1 (talk) 09:34, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Also, these are just examples. It is not supposed to be an exhaustive list. That would probably warrant a separate article.Drow69 (talk) 14:29, 1 September 2014 (UTC)