The mega-sites of Late Iron Age Europe (traditionally known as oppida) provide an important dataset for exploring how complex social systems can articulate power in novel ways. The question of whether these can be described as ‘urban’ has overshadowed a deeper understanding of the development and role of such sites, with many studies examining this issue almost wholly against peculiarly classical concepts of urbanism, isolating Iron Age studies from wider debate. Rather than seek to redefine ‘towns’, this paper explores how and why oppida diverge from traditional concepts of urbanism, arguing that the form of oppida reflects their focus on particular aspects—assembly, theatricality, and the household—which reflect the nature of Late Iron Age societies. It will be suggested that oppida are comparable to a range of mega-sites and low-density settlements recognised throughout the world that represent alternative solutions to the social complications urbanism seeks to address.

中文翻译：

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替代城市主义？重新考虑奥皮达和欧洲铁器时代晚期的城市问题

欧洲铁器时代晚期的大型遗址（传统上称为oppida）为探索复杂的社会系统如何以新颖的方式表达权力提供了重要的数据集。这些问题是否可以被描述为“城市”的问题，已经使人们对这些场所的发展和作用的更深层次的理解黯然失色。许多研究几乎完全针对古典主义的城市主义概念对这一问题进行了研究，从而使铁器时代的研究脱离了广泛的辩论。本文没有试图重新定义“城镇”，而是探讨了奥普达人如何以及为何与传统的城市主义概念有所不同，认为奥普达人的形式反映了他们对特定方面的关注-集会，戏剧和家庭-反映了铁器时代后期社会的本质。有人建议，oppida可以与全世界公认的一系列大型场所和低密度住区相提并论，它们代表了城市主义寻求解决的社会难题的替代解决方案。