Burnt offering place on the Spielleitenköpfl
The burnt offering place on the Spielleitenköpfl is an Iron Age cult site near Farchant in Upper Bavaria . Since 1994, the Institute examined for Pre- and Early History and Provincial Roman Archeology of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich under the project leadership of Amei Lang to find site archaeologically. The sacrificial site is based on the Monument Protection Act of 1 October 1973, a ground monument to the monument number D-1-8432-0032.
geography
The fire sacrifice place is 150 m above the Loisach valley northwest of Farchant in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district . The cult site was erected at a height of 800 m on a hill that is one of the gently rolling foothills of the Ammergau Alps .
Find history
The Loisach Valley has played an important role as a traffic route between the Bavarian Alpine foothills via the Seefelder Sattel and into the Inn Valley since the Bronze Age . The copper , which is so important for bronze production in the foothills of the Alps, had to be procured from the Inn valley, which was particularly rich in copper ores in the Schwaz area . These were theoretical considerations up to the time of the discovery, as the use of Schwaz copper in the southern Bavarian region could only be archaeologically confirmed for one find from the Starnberg area.
The Oberammergau Emil Bierling found during a walk in September 1993 on the Spielleitenköpfl broken ceramics , bronze fibulae , bronze castings, iron machine and so burned as unburned bones. In order to check the value of the finds, he sent them to the Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. The academic director at the institute, Amei Lang , examined the pieces and dated them to the more recent Hallstatt period . Was also Emil Bierling near the present-day cemetery a Pferdchenfibel, it is the Early La Tène , v approx 450-300. Assigned. As the remains of bronze processing were also to be seen in the finds, due to the isolated location of the site between the southern Bavarian and Tyrolean Hallstatt groups and the assumption that a burnt sacrifice site was found that cannot be assigned to either the Celts or the Räts , Amei Lang decided to an archaeological excavation on the Spielleitenköpfl.
Archaeological digs
Excavation 1994
After initial difficulties, the excavation was financed in 1994 by the Ludwig Maximilians University and the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation . Excavation equipment, manpower and materials were made available by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Farchant community. State-of-the-art technology and software specially programmed for archaeological excavations were used. During the excavations, a burnt offering place, parts of a Hallstatt-era bucket as well as numerous fibulae, ceramics and tools made of stone, bronze and iron were secured and documented. In summary, it must be said that the site is located on a traffic route between the Inntal and the Alpine foothills, as southern Bavarian and inner-Alpine elements are represented. Likewise, the copper ore used in the bronze objects most likely comes from the Inn valley. The horse primer has to be assigned to the Celts, which underlines that the area around Farchant can be accepted as a direct contact zone between Celts and Councilors.
Excavation 1995
The 1995 excavations deepened the knowledge of the layout of the site. Pits were discovered in which the builders deposited parts of animals, so-called Bothroi , but also small walls that could serve as the substructure of huts. The most common animal bones found were those of large, sturdy sheep and goats , followed by those of small, slender cattle . All finds found so far originate from the male sphere of life, but so far only a quarter of the total area of the hilltop has been archaeologically examined and there is definitely the possibility of finding objects elsewhere that come from the female sphere of life.
Because of the bad weather, the excavations could not be completed.
Excavation 1996
From August 5 to 30, 1996, the Institute for Prehistoric and Early Historical and Roman Provincial Archeology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich continued the 1995 excavations. The excavation team found mainly animal bones in 1996. But two remarkable pieces were also found: a sewing needle made of bone and the temple decoration of a fibula. The shape of the temple decoration has only occurred in a very limited area in northern Italy. The so-called Dragofibel from Spielleitenköpfl is the first of its kind outside of this area.
Excavation 2009
The Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich started excavations on the Spielleitenköpfl again in autumn 2009 . The aim of this excavation was to completely uncover the small stone walls, which had only been recorded in sections in the previous excavations. After four weeks, two buildings were uncovered, one after the other. The older building is around 640–625 BC. Was built. It was approximately 9.7 square meters and the foundation thickness was between 40 and 50 cm. On the south wall, the excavation team discovered five centimeters thick, half-round clay antenna . It is 120 cm wide and 100 cm long and probably the remains of a furnace. The younger building, which has been moved to the southwest, is twelve square meters and the foundation thickness was between 50 and 80 cm. The entire cult building was built around 450 BC. Torn down for reasons unknown until now and then filled and covered.
The excavation team headed by Heiner Schwarzberg found surprisingly coarse ceramic shards from vessels from the younger Bronze Age in a pit carved into the limestone rock . These finds date back to around 1700 BC. BC to 1500 BC And thus proof that sacrifices took place 1000 years before the cult buildings were erected on the Spielleitenköpfl . It is rather unlikely that there was a hilltop settlement from the late Early Bronze Age at this point. The pit can be seen as a landfill , which was created quite often in inaccessible places during this time. Nevertheless, this ensemble of finds from the Early Bronze Age, which was advanced furthest into the Alps , proves the importance of the Loisach Valley as part of an Early Bronze Age traffic route between the Alpine foothills and the Inn Valley.
literature
- Amei Lang: The Iron Age cult site on the Spielleitenköpfl near Farchant . In: forcheida - Contributions from the Farchanter Heimatverein . No. 4 . self-published, Farchant 1995, p. 4-12 .
- Amei Lang: The cult site on the Spielleitenköpfl near Farchant . In: forcheida - Contributions from the Farchanter Heimatverein . No. 5 . self-published, Farchant 1996, p. 20-41 .
- Amei Lang, Heiner Schwarzberg : The Hallstatt-time burnt offering place on the Spielleitenköpfl near Farchant . In: forcheida - Contributions from the Farchanter Heimatverein . No. 16 . self-published, Farchant 2010, p. 9-13 .
Web links
- Amei Lang: Iron Age burnt offerings. In: Collection of materials on archeology in Bavaria. Kurt Scheuerer, accessed on May 3, 2011 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brandopferplatz on the Spielleitenköpfl ( memento of the original from February 25, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation
Coordinates: 47 ° 32 ′ 10.1 ″ N , 11 ° 6 ′ 20.4 ″ E