The earliest evidence of human settlements in the Aare valley dates back to the Neolithic period. The earliest known settlement in the area of the city of Bern was on the Engehalbinsel to the north of the later city, founded around 300 to 200 BEC, the late La Tčne culture, and fortified in the 2nd century BCE. It is thought to have been one of the twelve oppida of the Helvetii mentioned by Caesar. After the Roman conquest, a small Gallo-Roman settlement, a vicus, was re-founded at the same place. It was abandoned between AD 165 and 211.
In the Early Middle Ages, there was a 7th to 10th centuries settlement with a church and a Burgundian Königshof (“castle”) with wooden fortifications in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, some 4 km from the medieval city. No archaeological evidence indicating a settlement on the site of the old town of today?s city prior to the 12th century have been found so far.
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