Skřipel, Beroun dist., Central Bohemian Region
Iron Age enclosure
(300–50 BC)
Western side of the enclosure with plausible original entrance.
Photo A. Danielisová, 2013.
The best preserved rectangular ditched enclosure (Viereckschanze) of the La Tène Period discovered in the Czech Republic. The banks at Skřipel, to this day up to 12 m wide and 3 m high, were described as early as at the end of the 19th century, when a shorter bank to the north of the enclosure (C) was destroyed. The round formation (B) in the southeast part of the area is interpreted as a well – a typical component of similar sites known from south Germany. Rectangular enclosures are mostly regarded as settlements of the elite that perhaps administered local gold deposits. A hoard of Celtic gold coins was discovered in Osov, not far from the Skřipel site.
References: Čermák 1872; Jelínek 1879; Jansová 1968.
Navigation points: N 49°50'11.92", E 14°04'36.20" (entrance).
Map notes: A – original entrance; B – round formation, possible well; C – location of original shorter bank destroyed in the 19th century. Map symbols are available in the Downloads section.
Selected fulltext articles and reports for further reading. Complete bibliographical records are available in the Downloads section as the List of publications.
Archeologický atlas Čech – SkřipelČermák, E. 1872: Tvrziště Neumětelské a Skřipelské, Památky archeologické 9, 483–484.Jansová, L. 1968: Mšecké Žehrovice und die Frage der Viereckschanzen in Böhmen, Archeologické rozhledy 20/4, 470–489, 571–572.Jelínek, B. 1879: Vrch Hradec, Lochovice, Neumětely a Skřipel, Památky archeologické 11/1, 109–120.