Iron Age finds in the Sauerland

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Iron Age finds in the Sauerland are finds from the pre-Roman Iron Age (around 800 BC until the Roman occupation). In addition to finds in caves, which probably have a cultic background, various hill castles in particular are known. In contrast, there are only a few direct settlement finds.

Cultural relations

The residents did not belong to the older Bronze Age population. After a deterioration in living conditions, this had largely withdrawn from the low mountain range. Around the year 1200 BC Christ the region was largely uninhabited again. This changed due to immigration around the 7th century BC by descendants of the urn field culture . According to older research, the new settlers were neither Celts nor Teutons , but a nameless people.

The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age took place in the entire South Westphalian region without major breaks. The area was culturally influenced from the north, west and south. With regard to ceramic finds, there were connections to the Lower Rhine , the Laufelder Group and the Hunsrück-Eifel culture . According to amber finds, especially in the Hönnetal , there were links to the Baltic Sea region . But there were also finds in the form of pieces of jewelry from southern and southeastern Europe. This also includes a small bronze duck figure that was found at Hemer .

In the younger Iron Age, the Celtic influences increased, as evidenced by coin finds. The Siegerland and Wittgenstein were on the edge of the Celtic sphere of influence. But there were also individual Celtic finds and other influences in the Sauerland. There are only a few traces that the Celts have left in the Sauerland. River names like Neger and Möhne probably come from Celtic times. The advancing Germanic tribes took possession of the Celtic settlement areas.

In the time before the turn of the century, the finds in the region again decreased significantly. The mountainous country was again largely cleared by the residents. In the younger Iron Age (at the time of the Roman Empire) the shape of the finds in the still populated peripheral area changed. They are interpreted as evidence of the influx of new settlers, whose origin is believed to be in the lower Elbe region. The Elbe Germanic influence soon subsided again. Roman actions during the occupation in the area on the left bank of the Rhine also played a role. A permanent settlement of the mountainous area probably did not begin until around the 8th century by Saxon settlers.

Settlement and cult finds

Hollow stone site

In contrast to the Hellweg zone , clear signs of settlement are rare in the Sauerland. These include traces at Brilon - Madfeld or in Rüthen - Kneblinghausen .

Iron Age finds were made at Thülen (1939, turned bronze neck ring), at the Kassbach near the Derkerstein (pottery shards, bricked clay, spindle whorls, fireplaces), in a cave near Rösenbeck (pottery shards). Only the finds from the Derkerstein point to permanent structures of an Iron Age settlement and thus to the first permanent settlement on the Brilon plateau. Comparable traces of a settlement from the Roman Empire were found at the Fülsenbecke.

It is noteworthy that most of the finds, especially from the earlier Iron Age, come from caves. These include the caves in the Hönnetal, such as the Balver Höhle ., The Hohle Stein near Rüthen- Kallenhardt , finds near Marsberg or Brilon . Other caves with finds from this era are the Veleda cave near Bestwig and the Bilstein cave near Warstein . The caves were located away from the main settlement areas. It is noteworthy that the finds from ceramics or pieces of jewelry were found only partially or damaged. They were often found with human bones. Research is based on the remains of cultic acts such as secondary burials .

The finds from excavations in the Veleda cave near Bestwig date mainly to the pre-Roman Iron Age. Stone Age finds were not made. Remnants - mainly skull bones - of at least 32 people were found in the cave. In addition, various other Iron Age relics such as ceramic shards, jewelry components and spindle whorls were found .

In the Bilstein Cave, a cylinder neck vessel from the urn field culture (around 800 BC) was found, as were numerous finds from the pre-Roman Iron Age (around 500 BC), including ceramics, jewelry and human bones. Like numerous other caves in the Sauerland and beyond, the Iron Age finds indicate a cultic significance of the Bilstein cave. These are likely to be related to funeral rites.

The burial habits, in particular, tie in with the earlier days. The dead were cremated and the remains were buried under a hill. As in Ense-Bremen , even Bronze Age burial grounds continued to be used. It is often difficult to determine from which time burial mounds originate.

Mining and smelting residues

During the Iron Age there were significant changes in the structure of the settlement. The background was easy-to-mine iron ore deposits just below the surface. This has been researched especially for the Siegerland. With the decline of the neighboring Celtic culture at the latest in the Roman Empire, smelting subsided.

In the Sauerland, traces of ore smelting from the pre-Roman Iron Age are rarer. Find places can be found at Rüthen-Kallenhardt or at the Bilstein cave near Warstein.

Wall castles

Numerous ramparts and similar fortifications were built in the Sauerland. In the Sauerland and Siegerland, about 18 systems of this type are known. Their function is not yet fully understood. In contrast to the Wittgenstein area, there are no traces of settlement in the Sauerland near the castles. Finds that can be clearly assigned to a specific time are usually missing, so that dating can often only be done on the basis of the structural remains.

The wall system at the Bruchhauser Stones is an exception . It is the oldest and, at the same time, best dating facility of its kind in all of Westphalia. C14 analyzes of wood residues showed an origin around 600 BC. It is believed that the facility was used to protect ore deposits. The function as a cult site is also often discussed.

Although no meaningful and datable finds are known of the Weilenscheid ramparts to this day, according to the latest research (Berènger 1998 and 1999), due to its topographical location, type of fortification and also its size, the ramparts belong to the Iron Age ring ramparts (7th century BC) Until around the birth of Christ). The Hofkühl ramparts are a hill fort near the village of Kirchveischede in Lennestadt. It is located on the 485 meter high Hofkühlberg about 1.5 kilometers southwest of the town on the top of the mountain. It is difficult to date, but it probably belongs to the younger Iron Age (La Tène period).

The younger Wallburg on the Wilzenberg shows clear Celtic influences. On the Wilzenberg there are two ramparts (ring walls). One of them dates from the Iron Age (200 BC) and is about 6 hectares in size. In 1950 two swords and four iron lance tips were found under the wall of the older fortification. Due to the discovery of weapons (largest weapon discovery from the Iron Age in Westphalia) in 1950, a chronological classification was possible. Swords of a similar shape were found in late Latena found associations, the closest of which are in the Wetterau.

During the last excavation in 2002, archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) uncovered a four-meter-long piece of a 2200-year-old fortification. As the location of a castle complex from the younger pre-Roman Iron Age, the Wilzenberg is of outstanding importance, into which a medieval castle was later built. The excavations with weapons finds and wall remains prove this.

In the case of the Schiedlike Borg near Freienohl there are no datable artefacts. Philipp R. Hömberg concludes from a comparison with other ramparts with a certain degree of uncertainty that the origin was Iron Age.

Chronology of the finds

  • Iron Age (7th century BC to the turn of the times): Weilenscheid ramparts, Veleda cave and Schiedlike Borg
  • 800 BC Chr .: Cylinder neck vessel of the urn field culture in the Bilstein cave
  • 627 BC Chr .: Find in the Bruchhauser stones
  • 548 BC Chr .: Find in the Bruchhauser stones
  • about 500 BC Chr .: Finds in the Bilstein cave
  • around 200 BC Chr .: Wallburg on the Wilzenberg
  • 475 to 50 BC BC (La Tène period): Hofkühl ramparts

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Beck: Overview of the prehistory and early history of the Sauerland. Arnsberg, 1975 p. 7f.
  2. ↑ Willi Voß: The early days of the Sauerland , Heimatbund Finnentrop, 1940 (PDF; 2.2 MB) ( Memento from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Hans Beck: Overview of the prehistory and early history of the Sauerland. Arnsberg, 1975 p. 8
  4. ↑ Hans Beck: Overview of the prehistory and early history of the Sauerland. Arnsberg, 1975 p. 17
  5. ^ Ernst Probst: Germany in the Stone Age: Hunters, Fishermen and Farmers between the North Sea Coast and the Alpine Region 619 p., Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1991. ISBN 3-570-02669-8
  6. ^ South Westphalia: Time travel to the Celts - project "The Celtic heritage of South Westphalia" ( Memento from January 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Reinhard Köhne: Historical mining in the Sauerland ("Westphalian Ore Mountains"). In: GeKo Aktuell, issue 1/2004. Geographical Commission for Westphalia / LWL (ed.). Münster, 2004. p. 7
  8. ↑ Philipp Hömberg: Weapons find from Wilzenberg , p. 106 (PDF; 2.4 MB) ( Memento from February 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ LWL: excavations on the Wilzenberg , 2002 (PDF)
  10. ↑ LWL: Preserving cultural landscape development district Soest and Hochsauerlandkreis, Grafschaft area , p. 45 (PDF; 1.6 MB)
  11. ↑ Torsten Capelle: Wall castles in Westphalia-Lippe. Published by the Antiquities Commission for Westphalia, Münster 2010, ISSN  0939-4745 , p. 14f. No. X ( Early Castles in Westphalia special volume 1 ).
  12. ^ Philipp R. Hömberg: Prehistoric and early historical ramparts in the Arnsberg area. In: Pre- and early history in the Arnsberg area. Arnsberg, 1975 p. 21