Závist is arguably the most important archaeological site in Bohemia. It contains the earliest known stone monumental structure – the acropolis – in the country – which dates from around 500 BC. It is also the largest fortified oppidum in Bohemia, dating the from the second century BC. Závist’s story is closely entwined with that of the Celtic Boii tribe, from whose name Bohemia is derived.

Závist hill fort is located at the strategically important junction of the Vltava and Berounka rivers, both of which were major trading routes in ancient times. Závist lies at the western edge and is the highest point (at 390m) of a fertile plain centered today on the modern town of Dolní Břežany. The plain has been extensively settled since the Stone Age.

The first significant construction at Závist appears to have occurred in the Late Bronze Age, some 3000 years ago, when the area was populated by the so called Urnfield people. A wooden palisade enclosed an area of up to 50ha, and this was later strongly fortified. At the highest point – where the Celtic stone acropolis was constructed several hundred years later – a second rectangular enclosure marked out what may have been an important Bronze Age ritual site. The creation and maintenance of such a large site probably required some central organization, and regional cooperation between village settlements.

The development of the Závist settlement was far from continuous over the following centuries. In the early Iron Age, from around 800 to 600 BC, the site may have declined in importance and size, with only fragments of evidence found for occupation in this period. The transition from the Bronze to the Iron Ages in the 8th century BC is generally viewed as a period when populations declined in Central Europe, partly as a result of a cool climate period which probably impacted agricultural productivity. If Závist was an important (possibly regional) ritual site in the Bronze Age, then the decline of local populations will have impacted the ability to fully maintain the hillfort.

The early Iron Age was also a period of transition socially and economically. While most of the Bronze Age was characterized by a system based on kinship and the village community, possibly led by a local chieftain, the early Iron Age saw the rise of military leaders who controlled large bands of followers. This transition was fed by the arrival of the new iron based technology and by the increasing connectivity to the Classical world, as the sophisticated Greek and Etruscan civilizations started to colonize areas closer to the Bohemian territory.

In the early Iron Age, new militaristic groups – probably of Celtic origin – started to arrive in the Bohemian lands from the west, bringing with them detailed knowledge of the expanding classical civilizations to the the south, possibly gained through warbands who served as mercenaries. One of these migrating groups is traditionally viewed as belong to the Boii tribe. The name Bohemia derives from this group, although there is no definitive historical or archaeological evidence to prove when, or even if, this Celtic tribe actually made their homeland in the Czech lands.

Whether or not it was the Boii, it is clear that a Celtic group undertook major refurbishment and expansion of the Závist fortress starting in the 6th century BC. Over a period of perhaps a hundred years, the site was expanded to encompass an area in excess of 100ha, with complex fortifications, separate residential, farming and industrial areas. Most notably, the acropolis area at the highest point in the hillfort was redeveloped with stone walls and included an elevated stone podium, which closely resembled sacred areas found in contemporary Greek and Etruscan centres. The scale and scope of the reconstruction at Závist is unprecedented in Iron Age Central Europe.

It is clear that the trading and cultural connections between the Mediterranean world and Bohemia strengthened throughout 5th century BC. Major trade routes to the north passed through Bohemia including the Amber Route. The fortress of Závist was perfectly positioned to control much of the trade passing both north/south and east/west. Rich archaeological finds in central Bohemia testify to the strong connections, particularly with the Etruscan territory in Northern Italy. It seems likely that the warrior elite of the Celtic tribes in 5th century BC Bohemia enjoyed a lifestyle not dissimilar to their Mediterranean counterparts.

By the end of the 5th century it seems that the Celtic tribes in central and western Europe were no longer satisfied with their relatively passive role controlling trade routes and supplying raw materials and slaves captured in local raids, in exchange for Mediterranean luxury goods. The cultural need for military success, population growth and expansion of the elite, almost certainly led to a need to find new territories to raid and exploit. The closest wealthy region was Italy. Starting at the beginning of the 4th century BC large groups of Celts from Gaul, southern Germany and Bohemia crossed the Alps to invade the Etruscan territories, occupying large tracts of land in and around the Po valley. The Boii Celts were one of the invading groups and took control of area around the modern day Bologna, including the Etruscan town of Felsina.

Over the following two hundred years, the Celts in Italy became known for their martial prowess, famously sacking Rome in 390 BC, raiding extensively and acting as mercenaries across the Mediterranean world. Celtic warriors from the Boii tribe supported Hannibal in his march across the Alps and contributed to his campaigns against the Romans at the end of the 3rd century BC. The Boii fought successive wars against the armies of the Roman Republic for over two hundred years.

Other groups of Boii migrated to the Danube valley and into the Carpathian Basin in the first half of the 4th century BC, possibly directly from their Bohemian territories or moving on after first participating in the occupation of northern Italy.

The impact of these moves in the 4th century BC on the tribal homeland in Bohemia was significant. Hillfort sites such as Závist were denuded of population, and probably fell into disrepair. Lucrative trade routes were presumably also disrupted. It would take nearly three centuries before the Celtic homelands would recover something to something akin to their 5th century BC heyday.

The Celts were finally driven out of Italy by a resurgent Roman Republic towards the beginning the 2nd century BC, the Boii being totally defeated at the battle of Mutina (modern day Modena) in 193 BC. It seems likely that some if not all of the remnants of the Italian Boii group drifted back to familiar territories, including their fortified sites in Bohemia. This homecoming might have sparked the final phase in the development of the Závist hillfort.

It is unclear what drove the Celts to reoccupy and rebuild the hillforts of Bohemia in the early 2nd century, but this was the time when several (usually hilltop) sites were expanded and came to be known as oppida – essentially meaning fortified towns. This urbanization process of the thriving Celtic tribes occurred across much of western and central Europe, from southern Britain to Spain and across to the Hungarian plain. Julius Caesar recorded more than twenty oppida when detailing his wars against the Gauls, in modern day France, in the 1st century BC.

Závist was one of the sites reoccupied, possibly by elements of the Celtic tribes that were driven from Italy by the Romans. The site was expanded and fortified in several stages to enclose as much as 170ha, including the secondary hill of Šance. This was the largest oppidum in Bohemia, and its population could have numbered several thousand. Stone from the older 5th century BC fortifications was reused, and fresh timber cut from a wide area to create palisade walls. The site included residential, manufacturing and farming enclosures. The importance of the site is confirmed by the establishment of a mint at Závist. Coins minted at Závist circulated throughout the Celtic world in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC.

The golden age of the Bohemian oppida did not last much more than 150 years. By the end of the 1st century BC, most of the oppida were abandoned. Historically, this was linked to the arrival of Germanic tribes pushing into Bohemia from the north and west, including the historically important Marcomanni tribe, led by the Roman educated Marobuduus. The Marcomanni were documented by Roman historians as moving to the ‘lands of the Boii’ some time after 9 BC.

However, it is now believed the abandonment of the Bohemian oppida was linked to the migration of some or all of the Boii tribe around 60 BC to support campaigns of fellow Celts against the Romans in Gaul and also to join other Boii groups on the Danube. The Celtic demand for the spoils of war may once again have driven these new significant moves of the tribe, rather than pressure from the Germans. Unlike the campaigns of the 4th century BC, these new wars were rather less successful. The Boii were completely defeated by Julius Caesar in Gaul, and the Boii on the Danube also finally absorbed into the all conquering and expanding Roman Empire.

What Marobuduus discovered when he rode up to the ramparts of Závist some time after 9BC, remains a matter of speculation. It seems unlikely there was a need to storm the fortress. What is certain is that he needed an appropriate Bohemian location for his base camp. As the largest fortress in Central Europe, Závist must have been a candidate, but there is no direct evidence linking Marobuduus to the site. It is tempting, however, to picture the final days of this most famous of Bohemian hillforts with the elite from the Marcomanni tribe camped within its rampart walls, awaiting the arrival of the invading Roman forces.

The Romans never arrived. The future emperor Tiberius set off with a massive invasion force in 6AD, crossed the Danube and was poised to enter the Czech lands, when he was required to divert his army to deal with a rebellion in Pannonia. Marobuduus hastily agreed a treaty of independence and friendly relations with Rome. For a period, Marobuduus ruled over the Bohemian lands, the first historically known figure to have held this position. His rule lasted until 18AD, when he was overthrown by a rival Marcomanni nobleman, Katvalda, who brought an army of enlisted Goths to sack Marobuduus’ camps. Marobuduus fled to safety in the Roman Empire, and spent his final years in exile in Ravenna.

This might have been the final act in long prehistory of the Závist hillfort. It was never fully occupied again. For two thousand years the ditches slowly filled up, the walls crumbled and the wooden palisades rotted away. Trees reclaimed the previously stripped slopes. Today it looks like just another steep-sided forested hill overlooking the Vltava river. Walkers exploring the shady paths and just visible ramparts ridges, once lined with Bronze age, Celtic and (possibly) Germanic warriors, might find it difficult to believe this was once, perhaps, the most important place in Bohemia.