Ceuclum

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Ceuclum
Alternative name Cuijk Castle
limes Lower Germanic Limes
section Meuse line
Dating (occupancy) Aa) 47 to 69
A.b) 71 to around 100
B.a) Constantinian to 368/369
B.b) 368/369 to the 5th century
Type A) Auxiliary
fort B) Late antique fortress
size A) 120 × 150 m = 1.8 ha
B) 110 × 160 m = 1.8 ha
Construction A) Wood-earth camp
B.a) Wood-earth camp
B.b) Stone fort
State of preservation Ground monument
place Cuijk
Geographical location 51 ° 43 '44.9 "  N , 5 ° 52' 58.7"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 43 '44.9 "  N , 5 ° 52' 58.7"  E
height 18  m NAP
Previous Blariacum (south)
Subsequently A) Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum
(north)
B) Burgus Heumensoord
(north)
Upstream B) Burgus Asperden (east)

Ceuclum was the name of a Roman settlement in what is now, at the Maas located Cuijk , a town in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant . Ceuclum developed from the vicus of an auxiliary camp .

location

Ceuclum lay directly on the western bank of the Meuse on a higher lying river terrace of the Pleistocene . The place was about 13 kilometers from the military camps of Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum and a good seven kilometers from the late Roman Burgus Heumensoord . It was on the Roman highway that led from Tongeren to Nijmegen and, according to Jan Kees Haalebos, was crossed at this point by a road that followed the Niers from Vetera / Colonia Ulpia Traiana and led further east from Ceuclum. In the modern cityscape, the relics of the former military camp and its vicus lie on the site of the Sint Martinuskerk (Saint Martin's Church) built between 1911 and 1913.

Sources and research history

Ceuclum is listed on the Tabula Peutingeriana with a distance of three leagues from Noviomagus. Tilmann Bechert and others assume that this distance was a typo by medieval copyists and assume that it should have been IV instead of III. The closest place to the south on the tabula was Blariacum ( Venlo - Blerick ) at a distance of 22 Leugen.

Isolated archaeological excavations have been carried out since the middle of the 19th century. In 1937, 1938 and 1948 Albert Egges van Giffen examined the area. 1964 to 1966, the results of Giffen's investigations were followed by excavations by Julianus Egidius Bogaers . From 1989 to 1992, the Rijksdienst voor Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek carried out underwater archaeological investigations on the Roman bridge of Cuijk, under the direction of Boudewijn Goudswaard and supported by numerous volunteers.

In 2002 the area of ​​the Roman bridge and port facility was placed under protection as Rijksmonument 524076 by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed as a ground monument.

History and archaeological evidence

Prehistory and early history

The oldest human traces in Cuijk go back to around 8800 BC. BC, date from the Mesolithic and consist of a few flint tools and a trapezoidal arrowhead. Some pits are known from the Neolithic , including a so-called living pit with a hearth, two to three possible burial places and numerous flint artefacts, including points, drills, blades and scrapers. From the Bronze Age there are, among other things, fire graves and several body graves. In one of the latter, a skull is of interest that had a 16 to 17 mm hole in it, possibly made by trepanation . There are also isolated findings for the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age and for the Iron Age itself. Overall, however, it seems that the area of ​​Cuijk was not particularly densely populated when the Romans arrived.

Claudian fort

The archaeological investigations in Cuijk showed that a Roman fort existed around the year 50 AD. Although there are a few coins from the vorclaudischen time, but no Arretina or other Augustan - tiberisches find material. The garrison was probably founded under the governorship of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (from AD 47). The findings did not cover the entire storage area, but traces of pointed trenches were found on three sides. The western side of the camp was probably washed away by the Meuse over the centuries. The camp was surrounded by an earth wall with a wooden palisade, in front of which there was a double or triple ditch system. The dimensions of the fort were approximately 120 m by 150 m, which means that it covered an area of ​​1.8 hectares. It thus offered space for a cohort , i.e. around 480 soldiers. With its praetorial front, the camp was oriented to the west, towards the Meuse, from south to north it was crossed on its via principalis by the Roman highway coming from Aduatuca Tungrorum and leading to Noviomagus Batavorum. Inside the military camp, two pottery kilns were discovered in which, in Claudian times, terra nigra , imitations of Dragendorff 29 and local pottery with comb decoration had been produced. The fort was surrounded, like every long-term Roman military camp in one place, by a vicus, a civilian settlement in which the veterans, relatives of soldiers, craftsmen, traders, prostitutes, innkeepers and other service providers settled. Like almost all Roman garrisons in the Batavian territory, the fort was destroyed during the Batavian uprising . In 71 it was rebuilt, but from the change of the first to the second century it was no longer used for military purposes and was probably abandoned for good. It is believed, however, not least because of brick and ceramic finds of military provenance, especially those from the nearby Legion brick Holdeurn that Ceuclum in the second century, possibly by a two and a half kilometers further north near the village of Katwijk Street station , not entirely without military guard remained.

Vicus

The vicus continued to develop even after the troops withdrew and became a regionally important center. It reached a size of ten hectares and had a thermal bath and a small temple with the external dimensions of 8.80 m by 9.65 (= almost 85 m²). fitted. On the site of the former fort, the vicus residents built a second, larger temple, which with its dimensions of 16.5 by 17.5 m took up around 289 m² of space. Both temples were not built until the middle of the second century. The remains of a large building plastered on the inside with stone foundations and a tiled roof were referred to as the local thermal baths. The walls of the building were partly made of tuff , the floor was made of Opus caementitium . An apse and parts of drainage channels could be identified. The building could be dated to the third century. The grave fields stretched along the highway leading north and south. Part of the southern necropolis on Grote Straat was excavated in 1989 and 2003 and published in 2006. During the excavations in 2003, in addition to the usual cremation graves, the Ustrina , the central cremation site, was uncovered. In addition to the cremation graves from the first to third centuries, body burials from late antiquity were also found.

In 2006, a treasure trove of coins was discovered on the Vicus site, which was well preserved and contained over 200 coins, as well as a bracelet and a finger ring. The treasure was in a 20 cm high clay jar that was covered with a ceramic shard and deliberately buried. The most recent coins were minted during the reign of Elagabal (218–222), so that the treasure could not have entered the earth until after 220. In Heeswijkse Kampen , less than a mile and a half as the crow flies , a small deposit was discovered which consisted of sixteen coins from the time of Hadrian that had been buried in a linen bag.

Late Roman fortress

At the beginning of the fourth century, presumably during the time of Constantine I (206–337), a new fort was built at almost the same location as the Claudian camp. In its first construction phase, it was a wood-earth warehouse, which with its dimensions of around 110 by 160 m covered an area of ​​almost 18 hectares. It was surrounded by a double ditch as an obstacle to the approach and had a small harbor in the form of a quay. On the basis of coin finds, Willem JH Willems suggested that under Constans (337–350) and Constantius II (337–361) building activities must have taken place in Ceuclum. Under Valentinianus I (364–375) the fort was rebuilt, probably around 368/369. It was now given a stone wall with protruding round towers. Furthermore, a horreum was built. This fortress is believed to have existed until the fifth century.

Meuse bridge

At the beginning of the reign of Constantius II , a stone bridge was built over the Meuse around the year 339. The actual length of the bridge is not known as only part of the bridge piers could be determined with certainty. In the maximum case, it would have been 450 m long and would then have rested on 24 pillars, each 19.2 m apart. The foundations of the pillars were on average 6.8 m wide and 11.6 m long. Extensive repairs were also carried out on the bridge during the Valentine's renovation work around 368/369; further repairs were carried out in the last decade of the fourth century. It can be assumed that the bridge was still in function into the fifth century.

literature

  • Tilmann Bechert , Harry van Enckevoort and Willem JH Willems : From the Lippe to the Waal . In: Tilmann Bechert and Willem J. H. Willems (eds.): The Roman border between the Moselle and the North Sea coast . Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1189-2 , p. 72f.
  • EAGBall and ENA Heirbaut (Red.): Cuijk-Heeswijkse Kampen, een landschap vol archeologie. Proefsleuvenonderzoek en opgravingen in 2003-2004 . (= Archol Rapport 39), Archol, Leiden 2005, ( digitized ).
  • EAG Ball: Dood en grave slowly de Romeinse weg Het onderzoek van een grafveld uit de Romeinse tijd bij Cuijk, Grotestraat Bergbezinkbassin . (= Archol Rapport 40), Archol, Leiden 2006, ISSN  1569-2396 , ( digitized version ).
  • Julianus Egidius Bogaers: Opgravingen te Cuyck, 1964–1966 . Nieuwsbulletin van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Outheidkundige Bond, 1966, 7, pp. 65–72, ( digitized version ).
  • Carol van Driel-Murray: Fashion in de nadagen van het Keizerrijk. De schoenen van Cuijk . Westerheem 56, 2007, pp. 133-141, ( digitized version ).
  • Harry van Enckevort and Jan RAM Thijssen: De Romeinse vicus Ceuclum. Archeological Onderzoek aan de Grotestraat in Cuijk . Westerheem 47, 1998, pp. 154-163.
  • Harry van Enckevort and Jan RAM Thijssen: Cuijk. A regional center in de Romeinse tijd . Uitgeverij Matrijs, Utrecht 2002.
  • Boudewijn Goudswaard, RAC Kroes and HSM van der Kroes: The Late Roman Bridge at Cuijk . In: Reports van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek, 44 (2001), pp. 439-560, ( digitized version ).
  • Joost Mioulet and Carin Barten: De Romeinse brug tussen Cuijk en Middelaar. Van ontdekking dead reconstructie . Matrijs, Utrecht 1994.
  • Peter A. Seinen and Joost A. van den Besselaar: Verkenning van de Laat-Romeinse kaderwerken in de Maas bij Cuijk . Stichting Mergor in Mosam, Haps 2013, ( digitized ).
  • Peter A. Seinen and Joost A. van den Besselaar: A Late Roman Quay in the River Meuse near Cuijk, Netherlands. In: International Journal of Nautical Archeology 43.2, 2014, pp. 330–342.
  • Jan RAM Thijssen: Laat-Romeins aardewerk uit de Maas bij Cuijk . Westerheem 60, 2011, pp. 166-176, ( digitized version ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Boudewijn Goudswaard, RAC Kroes and HSM van der Kroes: The Late Roman Bridge at Cuijk . In: Reports van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek, 44 (2001), p. 440, ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Jan Kees Haalebos: Het oudste fort . In: Harry Van Enckevort and Jan RAM Thijssen (Red.): Cuijk. A regional center in de Romeinse tijd . Archeological reports Nijmegen, 5, Utrecht 2002, pp 21-24.
  3. ↑ Tab. Peut. Segm. II, 2.
  4. ↑ a b Tilmann Bechert, Harry van Enckevoort and Willem JH Willems: From the Lippe to the Waal. In: Tilmann Bechert and Willem JH Willems (Hrsg.): The Roman border between the Moselle and the North Sea coast. Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1189-2 , p. 72.
  5. ↑ Algemeen Handelsblad from 17./18. October 1937 and Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of October 19, 1937.
  6. ^ Algemeen Handelsblad of December 2, 1938 and Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of December 13, 1938.
  7. ^ Albert Egges van Giffen and Willem Glasbergen in: L'Antïquité Classique 18, 1949, p. 422.
  8. ↑ a b Boudewijn Goudswaard, RAC Kroes and HSM van der Kroes: The Late Roman Bridge at Cuijk . In: Reports van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek, 44 (2001), pp. 439-560, ( digitized version ).
  9. ↑ Rijksmonument 524076: Terrein waarin restanten van een brug en een haven uit de Romeinse periode on the official website of the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (Dutch), accessed on November 29, 2018.
  10. ↑ Julian Egidius Bogaers: Opgravingen te Cuyck, 1964-1966 . Nieuwsbulletin van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Outheidkundige Bond, 1966, 7, pp. 65f., ( Digitized ).
  11. ↑ Jan Kees Haalebos: Het oudste fort . In: Harry Van Enckevort and Jan RAM Thijssen (Red.): Cuijk. A regional center in de Romeinse tijd . Archeological reports Nijmegen, 5, Utrecht 2002, p 23.
  12. ↑ Julian Egidius Bogaers: Opgravingen te Cuyck, 1964 to 1966 . Nieuwsbulletin van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Outheidkundige Bond, 1966, 7, p. 66f., ( Digitized version ).
  13. ↑ a b c Boudewijn Goudswaard, RAC Kroes and HSM van der Kroes: The Late Roman Bridge at Cuijk . In: Reports van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek, 44 (2001), p. 441, ( digitized version )
  14. ^ Harry van Enckevort and Jan RAM Thijssen: Cuijk. A regional center in de Romeinse tijd . Uitgeverij Matrijs, Utrecht 2002.
  15. ↑ Julian Egidius Bogaers: Opgravingen te Cuyck, 1964-1966 . Nieuwsbulletin van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Outheidkundige Bond, 1966, 7, p. 67, ( digitized version ).
  16. ↑ EAG Ball: Dood en grave slowly de Romeinse weg Het onderzoek van een grafveld uit de Romeinse tijd bij Cuijk, Grotestraat Bergbezinkbassin . (= Archol Rapport 40), Archol, Leiden 2006, ISSN  1569-2396 , ( digitized version ).
  17. ↑ Romeinse muntschat gevonden in Cuijk of November 13, 2006, on the website trou.nl of Persgroep Nederland (Dutch), accessed on November 29, 2018.
  18. ↑ Romeinse muntschat opgegraven in Cuijk on Archeology Online (Dutch), accessed on 30 November 2018th
  19. ↑ Peter A. Seinen and Joost A. van den Besselaar: A Late Roman Quay in the River Meuse near Cuijk, Netherlands. In: International Journal of Nautical Archeology 43.2, 2014, pp. 330–342.
  20. ↑ Julian Egidius Bogaers: Enkele opmerkingen over het Nederlandse gedeelte van de Limes van Germania Inferior (Germania Secunda) . In: Reports to de Rijksdienst 'oor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek , Jaargang 17, 1967, pp. 99-114.
  21. ^ Tilmann Bechert, Harry van Enckevoort and Willem JH Willems: From the Lippe to the Waal . In: Tilmann Bechert and Willem J. H. Willems (eds.): The Roman border between the Moselle and the North Sea coast . Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1189-2 , p. 72f.