Small fort Alkofen

Small fort Alkofen
limes	ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK)	a) Rhaetian Limes , Danube line; b) Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes
Dating (occupancy)	a) 2nd hand 1. AD until 259/260 AD at the latest b) 4th century AD to 5th century AD
Type	a) small fort? b) Burgus?
size	unknown
State of preservation	still undiscovered today; Location is only assumed
place	Alkofen near Bad Abbach
Previous	a) Small fort Weltenburg-Frauenberg b) Burgus Untersaal (southwest)
Subsequently	Großprüfening small fort (northeast)

The Rhaetian Danube Limes

Small fort Alkofen or Burgus Alkofen is the name of a site that is located near the hamlet of Alkofen. This is located southwest of Bad Abbach , in the Kelheim district in Lower Bavaria . During the time of the Principate and the late Roman Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes , evidence of the find near Alkofen suggests that there will be two military camps .

location

It is believed that at least the possible Burgus near Alkofen could have had a line of sight to the Burgus Untersaal , about four kilometers to the southwest . Its location would therefore be on a flood-proof high plateau at the exit of the Danube valley that extends between Kelheim and Saal . South of the possible troop location, the surrounding heights come close to the river banks. On the right side of the Danube, the narrow point was only defused for stagecoach traffic in 1792 and 1797, when the Devil's Rock, which reached right up to the Danube, was blown up by the cartographer Adrian von Riedl (1746–1809). South of Alkofen, the terrain to the Ringberg also rises steeply. On its high plateau there was a Celtic ring wall.

Research and construction history

Roman coins are said to have been found on the Alkofener Ziegelfeld, also known as Wiesacker, in the middle of the 18th century. This area is located northwest of Alkofen. Alleged traces of an ancient building have been noticed since the early 19th century. The historian Joseph Rudolf Schuegraf (1790–1861) visited the brick field “for the third time” in November 1845 and was then certain to have discovered the “remains of the old Roman camp” in an elongated piece of wall and moat . In April of the same year, a flood flooded the fields at Ziegelfeld and allegedly uncovered a huge number of different objects. In addition to “helmets, shields and armor ornaments in abundance”, there are also actual Roman finds such as ceramics, coins and stamped bricks . The residents of the corridor subsequently earned extra income by selling coins and alleged antiquities to travelers. The finds triggered a supraregional euphoria about antiquities from Alkofen, which also reached government agencies. In the same year there was little success and aimless digging. In the years 1846 and 1847 attempts were made to promote the “exploitation of the Alkofer field” by means of search trenches, but this undertaking was not a proven success either. In the course of the construction of the railway through the brick field, another excavation was financed with the help of state funds in September 1871, which the Kelheim teacher Johann Baptist Stoll led. It turned out at the time that the soil at the respective search points was apparently already completely churned up to the excavation depth. In addition to ceramic fragments, including some stamped picture bowls and three coins from the Middle Imperial period, fibulae and other brick stamps came to light.

Based on all these finds, the prehistorian Paul Reinecke (1872-1958) suspected a small fort or a late Roman burgus in an area a little above Alkofen, at the upper end of a high terrace reaching to the Dantscher and egg mills before Bad Abbach. The present coins indicate that the space can be occupied from the second half of the first Century seem conceivable. The actual fort could only have been built in the 2nd century. It is possible that the plant during the Marcomanni wars was attacked (166-182). By a sub Saaler spoils suspected presence of a centurion of the Legio III Italica (3 Italic Legion) and various, mostly former brick temple of this band from Alkofen suggest a construction activity in the 70 years of the second century. At the latest in the course of the Limes falls , the small fort of Alkofen was finally destroyed by 259/260 AD. Find material from the time immediately after the Limes fall is missing and is only documented again for the 4th century.

Consecration stones and grave monuments from the cemetery of Alkofen were apparently reused in late antiquity as spoils in the construction of the Burgus Untersaal, about four kilometers away . Reinecke also suspected a smaller Burgus at the egg mill. According to what was found, the garrison continued into the fifth century. Due to the lack of excavations, it is not possible to specify the location of Alkofen in relation to the Roman garrisons.

Dedicatory inscription of Flavius ​​Vetulenus

The inscription, first documented by the historian Johannes Aventinus (1477–1534) in 1509, has been published many times since then.

I (ovi) O (ptimo) M (aximo) statori

Fl (avius) Vetulenus | (centurio)

leg (ionis) III Ital (icae) rever-

sus from exped-

it (ione) Burica

ex voto

posuit

Translation: “For Jupiter Stator, the best and greatest. Flavius ​​Vetulenus, centurion of the 3rd Italian Legion, set up (this) after returning from the Boer campaign on the basis of a vow. "

The centurion belonged to the Legio III Italica stationed in Regensburg. His consecration stone is seen in connection with the Marcomann Wars. Instead of Alkofen, the original installation site of the altar could also have been in the Legion camp of Regensburg. The Boers , a Germanic tribe formerly friendly with the Romans, had turned away from Rome during the reign of Emperor Commodus (180-192) and were now being fought. It is possible that this is how the altar of thanks for Flavius ​​Vetulenus, who returned from a Boer War attested to in 180 AD, was created.

Monument protection

The facilities mentioned are protected as registered ground monuments within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to authorization, accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities.

literature

• Hans Gebhart, Konrad Kraft: The coins found in the Roman period in Germany. Bavaria, Vol. 1, Upper Bavaria. Mann, Berlin 1970, p. 35.
• Paul Reinecke: The intermediate fort (Alkofen?) On the Rhaetian border line Eining-Regensburg. In: Germania. 31 (1953), pp. 159-168.

Remarks

1. ↑ Burgus Untersaal at 48 ° 54 ′ 15.56 ″  N , 11 ° 56 ′ 57.63 ″  E
2. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: p. 10.
3. ↑ Ziegelfeld / Wiesacker at 48 ° 55 '3.62 "  N , 11 ° 58' 25.71"  O
4. ^ Joseph Rudolf Schuegraf : The Roman Castrum on the Ring and the brick field in the Saler-Au . In: Negotiations of the historical association of Upper Palatinate and Regensburg. 10, 2 (1846), pp. 139-253; here: pp. 240–242.
5. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: p. 14.
6. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: p. 12.
7. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: p. 17.
8. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: p. 15.
9. ^ Johann Baptist Stoll: The antiquities excavated at Alkofen. In: Negotiations of the historical association for Lower Bavaria. 1874, pp. 3-38 (1874); here: pp. 20–34.
10. ↑ Dantschermühle at 48 ° 55 '26.03 "  N , 12 ° 0' 49.76"  E
11. ↑ eggs mill at 48 ° 55 '32.57 "  N , 12 ° 0' 57.12"  O
12. ↑ ^{a b c} Hans Gebhart, Konrad Kraft: The coins found in the Roman period in Germany. Bavaria, Vol. 1, Upper Bavaria. Mann, Berlin 1970, p. 35.
13. ↑ ^{a b} CIL 03, 05937
14. ^ Paul Reinecke: The intermediate fort (Alkofen?) On the Rhaetian border line Eining-Regensburg . In: Germania 31 (1953), pp. 159-168; here: p. 166.
15. ^ Thomas Fischer : Romans and Bavarians on the Danube. Pictures of the early history of Eastern Bavaria. Pustet, Regensburg 1988, ISBN 3-7917-1131-8 , p. 24.
16. ↑ Ludwig Wamser , Christof wing , Bernward Ziegaus (ed.): The Romans between the Alps and the North Sea. Civilizational legacy of a European military power. Exhibition catalog for the state exhibition in the Rosenheim locomotive shed from May 12th to 5th. November 2000. von Zabern, Mainz 2000, ISBN 3-8053-2615-7 , p. 373.
17. ^ Karlheinz Dietz : Legio III Italica . In: Yann Le Bohec, Catherine Wolff (eds.): Les légions de Rome sous le haut-empire. Actes du congrès de Lyon (17-19 September 1998). Lyon 2000, ISBN 2-904974-19-9 , pp. 133-143; here: p. 138.