Positive crop marks of a Late Latène quadrangular enclosure in ripening maize

In September 2015, a late Latène quadrangular enclosure, known for a long time and now almost completely levelled, was flown over. The archaeological monument is located on a cultivated field that was planted with maize in 2015. The survey was carried out in the late afternoon at an altitude of about 100m. Even from a distance, the ditches of the square enclosure were visible as discolouration features.

The aerial survey took place exactly at the time when the leaves of the maturing maize change from green to a yellowish colour. After the dry summer, the plants standing on the former ditches had a slightly better water supply and kept their green leaf colour a little longer, while the neighbouring plants were already changing to yellow.

Addendum 2020: In early summer 2020, the field of this ground monument was cultivated with winter wheat. Due to the dry spring, the ditches and the annex ditches showed positive crop marks on 24.06.2020. The remains of the former ramparts are also nicely visible, which can be well discerned from the reduced growth of the cereal plants.