Murus Gallicus

Structure of a Murus Gallicus from stones (gray), wood (brown) and earth (olive)

Murus Gallicus ( Latin for "Gallic wall") is the technical term used in archeology for a specific construction method for Gallic (Celtic) fortification walls. The term goes back to a contemporary description of corresponding systems in " De Bello Gallico " by Gaius Iulius Caesar (Caes. Gall. VII, 23).

construction

The Murus Gallicus is an architectural technique of building the wall, which was mainly used by the Celts in antiquity to build defensive structures. A framework made of wooden trunks and beams was built and the spaces in between were filled with stones and rubble.

This construction gave the weir system stability against attackers who wanted to break into the system with rams . Such a framework was tougher and more stable than pure stone structures. In the case of solid stone walls that are connected to one another without mortar , the stones are alternately stabilized over a short range, whereas the beams within the framework of the Murus Gallicus transfer the load over a longer range, so that the wall does not collapse even with major local damage. This prevented breaches through which attackers could penetrate the facility.

What made the fortress stable on the one hand, led, on the other hand, to the long-term decline of the defensive structures: where the wooden structure rotted, the wall collapsed and dissolved into a stone wall made of the filled stones and rubble. All of the Celtic fortifications that were based on this technology were left to decay, which is why no intact Murus Gallicus has survived today.

Well-known examples of Celtic fortifications built in this way are the north wall of the oppidum Fossé des Pandours, the ring wall of Otzenhausen , the fortification on the Titelberg in Luxembourg, the Celtic complex of Manching and the walling around the hilltop settlement of Sopron-Várhely .

The cost of materials for the Manching ring wall is estimated as follows:

11,800 solid cubic meters of wood for the inner framework, two tons of iron nails to nail it, 6,900 m³ of limestone for the wall cladding and 90,000 m³ of earth and bulk material to fill the wall.

Model of a Murus Gallicus (construction principle as for the castle wall in Kempfeld )
Reconstructed section of a Celtic fortification on the Milseburg
Bibracte , Porte du Rebout, restoration of a Murus Gallicus
The remains of the Murus Gallicus of the Otzenhausen complex , formerly approx. 25 m high and wide

Vitrified continued

Vitrified fort on the Tap o 'Noth

If this wall construction was set on fire, the burning of the wooden framework with the right wind and the corresponding drying of the beams could generate such heat that the stones of the front cladding were partially "glazed". Archaeologists consider it unlikely that this always happened through enemy action; it is assumed that the masonry can be strengthened in a targeted manner. Examples of these so-called vitrified forts , which are mainly found in Britain , are Castlelaw near Abernethy ( Perth and Kinross ) (10 km southeast of Perth ), Tap o 'Noth in West Lothian and Finavon in Angus .

The computer simulation of a night image of the glowing stone wall on the summit of Tap o 'Noth is shown in the illustrated book “Kelten. Images of their culture ” .

literature

Wolfgang Dehn : Some remarks on the Murus Gallicus. In: Germania 38, 1960, pp. 43-55.
Alex Furger-Gunti: The Murus Gallicus of Basel . In: Yearbook of the Swiss Society for Prehistory and Early History 63, 1980, pp. 131–184.
Ferdinand Maier : Results of the excavation 1984-1987 in Manching. (= The excavation in Manching. Volume 15). 1992, pp. 340-356.
Helmut Birkhan : Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. 2nd corrected and enlarged edition. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 .
Peter Litwan: Caesars description of the murus gallicus (Gall. 7, 23) and the iron nails. In: Museum Helveticum 68, 2011, pp. 148–153.

Web links

Commons : Murus gallicus - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Franz Fischer : The craft with the Celts at the time of the Oppida. In: Handwerk 1983, p. 39.
↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 345 f.
↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2814-2 , p. 138, image 73.

[1] Franz Fischer : The craft with the Celts at the time of the Oppida. In: Handwerk 1983, p. 39.

[2] Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 345 f.

[3] Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Images of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2814-2 , p. 138, image 73.