Illerup Ådal

In Illerup Ådal several weapons victim from the time between 200 n. Chr., And 450 n. Chr were., In Denmark as Roman Iron Age referred found. New excavations also yielded 200 (out of an estimated 1000) dismembered human sacrifices from the 1st century BC. Chr.

location

The Illerup Ådal site (valley of the Illerup Å, a river) is located in Denmark , two kilometers northeast of Skanderborg and 20 km southwest of Aarhus near the east coast of Jutland. At the time of the sacrifices, today's moor was one of several small lakes with an area of 400 × 250 m and a depth of about four meters.

Find history

The first finds were made in May 1950. The first excavation took place under Harald Andersen until 1956. An area of 750 m² was developed and around 1200 finds were secured. A total of 11 excavation campaigns took place between 1975 and 1985, in which an area of 40,000 m² was opened up and around 15,000 individual finds were secured. The latest finds were made in 2009 about two kilometers from the weapon victim. In the Alken Enge (German Alkenwiesen) on Mossø (lake), an Iron Age mass grave with around 200 dead in a silted lake was discovered and dated to around 200 AD.

Between 2009 and 2014, the remains of 82 young men were found just a few meters away, who died sometime between 2 BC. BC and 54 AD are likely to have perished violently. The dating was done using the radiocarbon method . It is unclear whether there was a connection with Roman forays into the areas south of the Elbe. A troop strength of up to 380 warriors is assumed, who apparently lay on the battlefield for months before they were brought to the Alken Enge des Illerup and ritually buried. Traces of browsing by wolves and foxes prove that the victims did not die on the spot and were systematically divided and bundled after they were collected. According to archaeologists, this indicates that the Teutons created a place of remembrance here.

Dating

Human sacrifices begin in the 1st century BC. The majority of the weapons discovered between 1950 and 1956 date to AD 200, on which occasion 90% of the objects ended up in the lake. Further offerings followed around AD 225, AD 375, and AD 450.

conservation

The bog in Illerup Ådal is a fen with a pH of 8.5. Therefore, weapons and some organic materials such as bones, wood and vegetable fibers were preserved, while wool and leather perished. There are very few traces or impressions of former clothing in the iron oxide.

Runic inscriptions

In the moor of Illerup Ådal some of the oldest Germanic runic inscriptions have been found, all of which date from around 200 AD. The most important are:

Shield shackles from Illerup Ådal 1

The almost entirely undecorated shield cuff fitting with two rivet holes is made of bronze and weighs 0.020 kg with a total length of 189 mm. The shackle fitting shows some damage. The runes are attached facing the shield bearer. Since it is a mobile object, the location of the inscription cannot be determined. The right-hand inscription can be safely read as swarta , with the last a- rune on the right below runes 4–5, in such a way that the staff faces the feet of the other rune signs, while its branches point downwards. The inscription is interpreted as su̯arta , a nominative singular of a mask. N -St. It is probably a nickname 'the black one', as it is in run. (Stone cross of Andreas II [Isle of Man]) suarti , ahd. Swarzo , aisl. Svarti , adän., Aschwed. Swarte is present. Urgerm. * su̯artan - is a derivation with the suffix urgerm , which forms individualizations. * - n - from urgerm. * su̯arta - 'black' (> got. swarts , ahd. swarz , as. swart , ae. sweart , afries. swart , aisl. svartr ).

Shield shackles from Illerup Ådal 2

The almost intact, grooved shield cuff fitting made of silver with trapezoidal rivet plates and two rivet holes has a length of 18.8 cm and a weight of 0.024 kg. On it there is a left-hand runic inscription with a height of 5 to 8 mm; it can be read as niþijo tawide , with the 'mirror runes' (runes doubled around the staff) þ and w being a special feature . It is a runic scorer or manufacturer's inscription with the verb tawide 'he / she made' (3rd sg.ind.prät.) That occurs several times in runic inscriptions . The preceding personal name niþijo is most likely a derivation with the short form suffix urgerm , which forms two-part personal names. * - i̯a / ōn - from urgerm. * nīþa - 'envy' (> Got. neiþ , ahd. nīd , as. nīth , ae. nīð , afries. nīth , aisl. níð ), i.e. 'the one who is envious'. Two-part personal names with this element have multiple uses, such as Latin-germ. Nitigis ( List of the Bishops of Lugo ), ahd. M. Nithbald , Nidperht , f. Nitfalia , Nithildis . It is controversial whether the ending - o is to be interpreted as a masculine or a feminine.

Shield shackles from Illerup Ådal 3

The silver, 19 cm long and 0.036 kg heavy shield shackle fitting, which was probably damaged before the laying down, has a left-handed, 5 to 7 mm high runic inscription facing the shield carrier. The inscription can certainly be read as laguþewa (with again two 'mirror runes ' þ and w ). It is a two-part personal name (m. N -St.) With the components urgerm. * laǥu - 'water, lake' (> as., ae. lagu , aisl. lǫgr ) and urgerm. * þeǥu̯an - 'servant' (> ae. þēowa ), thus 'swamp servant'. The personal name can be compared directly with the Erulian name Φανίθεος 'swamp servant'. Names of this kind have a religious reference, whereby the weapon sacrifices in the Scandinavian moors, which are obviously intended as a dedication, provide the ritual background.

Fire steel handle from Illerup Ådal

The wooden handle of a needle-shaped fire steel with a length of 90 mm and a diameter of 21 mm has a 10 mm high runic inscription. It can be read as gauþz , with the rune þ having an unusual shape (the hook goes over the entire stick). The word is probably as urgerm. * ǥau̯þa - to interpret 'Beller' (which is probably a Heiti ), a derivation from the verb urgerm. * ǥau̯i̯e / a - 'bark' (> ae. gōian , wfries. geije , aisl. geyja ). The stem class of the noun is unclear. The widespread assumption of a consonant stem is rather unlikely, since it is a late derivation (the consonant stems are not a productive class in ancient Germanic ). Since there are further endings in the runic material in - z , the assumption is closer that endings of the Nom.Sg. urgerm. * - az with the theme vowel * - a - which has already disappeared .

Lance tip from Illerup Ådal 1/2

They are two Vennolum lance tips with a central rib. They both contain a stamped, counterclockwise rune inscription, which can be read wagnijo , the first rune w being a mirror rune ; the same inscription can also be found on a lance tip from the Vimose moor . wagnijo is a nom. to determine and set urgerm. * u̯aǥnii̯a / ōn - fort, an education with the suffix urgerm, on the one hand personal designations, on the other hand noun agentis. * - (i) i̯a / ōn -. The derivation basis is urgerm. * U̯aǥna - 'movement, carriage' (.> AISL vagn , ae. Wægn , afr. Wine , as, ahd.. Wagan ). For wagnijo , both a meaning 'mover' (which would indicate a weapon name) or 'wagon maker, -bauer' (which would speak for a personal name) can be assumed. The ending - o is interpreted as both masculine and feminine.

literature

Thorsten Andersson, Jørgen Ilkjær, Marie Stoklund: Illerup Ådal. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 15, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2000, ISBN 3-11-016649-6 , pp. 346-354.
Århus Amt (Ed.) A. Lindebo Leth: Fortidsminder i Århus-området - en tur guide - 1993 ISBN 87-7295-757-3
Friedrich E. Grünzweig: Runic inscriptions on weapons: Inscriptions from the 2nd century AD to the high Middle Ages - Vienna 2004 ISBN 3-7069-0227-3
KK Michaelson: Danmarks Oldtid 2002 ISBN 87-567-6458-8
Jørgen Ilkjaer (Ed. Et al.): Illerup Ådal. In: Jutland Archaeological Society Publications XV Vol. 1-14. Aarhus University Press 1990-2011.

Remarks

↑ Archeology in Germany 6/2009 p. 5

↑ Mads Kähler Holst, Jan Heinemeier u. a .: Direct evidence of a large Northern European Roman period martial event and postbattle corpse manipulation. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 2018, p. 5920, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1721372115 .

↑ So u. a. E. Seebold: The linguistic interpretation and classification of the archaic runic inscriptions , in: K. Düwel: Runic writing culture in continental-Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon interrelationship [= supplementary volumes to RGA 10]. Berlin / New York. Pp. 56-94.

^ R. Schuhmann: On the problem of the Germanic dialect structure . In: Monika Kozianka, R. Lühr, S. Zeilfelder (Eds.): Indo-European Studies - German Studies - Linguistics . Kovač, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-8300-1464-3 , p. 531-550 .

Web links

Illerup Ådal - an archaeological magic mirror. Retrieved September 14, 2009 .
Angelika Franz: The secret of the sacrificed army. Spiegel Online, September 14, 2009, accessed September 14, 2009 .

56.053119444444 9.9324777777778Coordinates: 56 ° 3 ′ 11.2 " N , 9 ° 55 ′ 56.9" E

[1] Archeology in Germany 6/2009 p. 5

[2] Mads Kähler Holst, Jan Heinemeier u. a .: Direct evidence of a large Northern European Roman period martial event and postbattle corpse manipulation. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 2018, p. 5920, doi : 10.1073 / pnas.1721372115 .