Celtic Field

Celtic field ( Engl. ), Sometimes also Celtic fields are small, more or less rectangular fields of bronze , iron and Roman times, ancient for growing cereals such as einkorn , emmer and spelled . This type of cultivation is called celtic fields because it was first recognized in the British Isles and was incorrectly associated with the Celtic era . However, the fields were not introduced by the Celts. They existed before and also in proto-European and other areas.

description

The fields, arranged like a chessboard, had an edge length of 20 to 50 meters and were characterized by demarcating walls that could reach a height of up to 60 cm. The walls were created by plowing crosswise with a hook plow, in which soil remains at the edge of the worked area. Undisturbed vegetation on the edges of the field and the deposit of reading stones also promoted the deposition of sediments while the plowed area was eroded. Over time, the level of field and field developed apart and tub-like fields emerged. A similar phenomenon can be observed today with the local intensive cultivation of small areas with special crops ("bowls" of long-term vegetable growing areas.) In addition, a targeted construction of the ramparts as wind protection is being discussed. Against this consideration, however, speaks that the same success would have been achieved with marginal vegetation with significantly less effort. The ramparts seem to have been used as paths. A function of the ramparts as a demarcation, on the other hand, is rather unlikely today due to the small size of the fields. Occasionally the ramparts can still be seen in the landscape, as in Dorset , Burderup Down (County Wiltshire ) in Great Britain at the Céide Fields in Ireland or on the Noordsche Veld in Drenthe in the Netherlands .

During excavations on the Geestinsel Flögeln , these fields were found on an area of ​​more than 100 hectares. In the Wildeshauser Geest near Kleinenkneten they are also documented by aerial photo archeology. In contrast to the British fields, where the ramparts were built as border ramparts, those in Flögeln were also used as arable beds. Due to the size of these fields, it can be concluded that they served to supply a single hamlet with approx. 20 residential buildings. In 2016, prehistoric fields were detected in a laser scan in the Pastitz Forest on Rügen and in the Rhineland.

See also

• Céide Fields , Neolithic field system in Ireland

literature

• JA Brongers: Celtic Fields in Lower Saxony. In: Archaeological correspondence sheet . 3 / 1973. pp. 129-131.
• Matthias D. Schön: Feddersen Wierde, Fallward, Flögeln . Archeology in the Museum Burg Bederkesa , Cuxhaven 1999. S. 174f.

Web links

• Celtic fields on the Geestinsel Flögeln
• Celticfields on the side of the Albersdorf Museum
• Michael Wesemann: From fields in forests - with airborne laser scans on the trail of prehistoric fields in the Lower Saxony Monument Atlas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ excavation technician manual .
2. ↑ AiD 5/2016 p. 48
3. ↑ AiD 5/2016 p. 49; Peter Bruns: Celtic Fields on the Lower Rhine and in North Rhine-Westphalia (= Historischer Arbeitskreis Wesel, issue 21), Wesel 2016.