Aying Castle
Map with all coordinates: | Aying Castle | |
|---|---|
| limes | - |
| Dating (occupancy) | Foundation: Valentine |
| Type | Small fort |
| size | 62 × 67m (= 0.25 ha) |
| Construction | planned: stone |
| State of preservation | Preserved underground, visible in the aerial photograph |
| place | Aying |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 58 ′ 15.4 " N , 11 ° 47 ′ 0" E |
| height | 628 m above sea level NHN |
The fort Aying is a never finished Roman military camp , which as of late antiquity mounting for monitoring the major Roman road from Iuvavum ( Salzburg ) about Pons Aeni ( Pfaffenhofen am Inn ) to Augusta Vindelicum ( Augsburg was provided). As a ground monument that is not visible above ground , the findings on the eastern outskirts of Aying have not been built over until today. Aying is located in the southeast of the district of Munich in the administrative district of Upper Bavaria . The identification of the planned inner fort in 2016 was noteworthy both for science and for local homeland researchers, as there has so far been no evidence of this Roman site, although other ground monuments around the Roman fortifications were well known.
Research history
An aerial photo of the municipality of Aying used in July 2015 for the Bavarian Monument Atlas was the key to the discovery of the previously unknown Roman fort by the Erdinger archaeologist Harald Krause in the course of a systematic analysis of the then latest vertical photographs by the Bavarian Surveying Administration. Krause recognized with impressive clarity the outlines of a late antique garrison with walls and rectangular towers that emerged from the mature grain on the photo. In July 2016, Stefan Kluthe from the Erding Archaeological Association took several aerial photos of the findings with the help of a multicopter. They confirmed the unusual representation of the fort walls in the form of positive growth marks , which was already noticed on the first aerial photo . Usually a negative growth pattern should have appeared, as this would indicate rising masonry. In the present case, therefore, two options were initially assumed. Either the Roman walls fell completely victim to the stone robbery after they were abandoned, so that only the excavated trenches remain, or the fort was never completed. This means that only the excavation trenches for a planned facility would be recognizable in the existing floor plan. In order to gain clarity here, the geophysicist Jörg Faßbinder was commissioned by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation , Department of Monument Registration and Monument Research, to carry out a large-scale geophysical investigation. A Förster probe magnetometer and a cesium total field magnetometer were also used. The northeast corner tower was also inspected with an electrical resistance meter. Only the northwest corner of the facility could not be examined because it is in a deer enclosure .
location
During the Würm over the Upper Bavarian foothills postponed glaciers have a pronounced during and after their existence Jungmöränenlandschaft leave. In this context, today's Aying lies in the northern edge of the Munich gravel plain . The Roman surveyors in Aying used the western slope of a 400 meter long and 60 to 80 meter wide terminal moraine ridge to build the fort . The location of the weir structure, which is parallel to the slope and aligned with the contour lines, is around 15 to 20 meters above the plain. From there there is a very good view to the south-west, west and north-west. The elevated topography to the east, however, clearly rules out a clear view in this direction. The military planning for the fort was, as is usually the case, based on the presence of a nearby spring. This was still used by the Aying brewery, founded in 1878, until a new brewery opened in 1999 . Immediately to the north-west of the fort, the remains of an early medieval settlement area, disturbed by modern development, were mapped.
Building history
The rectangular model of the fort found in Aying, around 62 × 67 meters from corner tower to corner tower, can be found in all parts of the Roman Empire. Depending on the part of the empire, doctrinal opinion and investigation, it may already be assigned to the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284–305), the Constantinian era (306–337) or the time of Emperor Valentinian I (364–375). Examples of this type of fort can be found among many others with the Swiss fort Irgenhausen (Valentine) or the Libyan fort Gasr Bularkan (Diocletian? / Constantine?) In the hinterland of the Limes Tripolitanus . The authors of the first description of Aying agreed to ascribe the structure to the time of the Valentinian fortress construction program due to similar, partly dendrochronologically secured buildings. The function of the inner fort within the late antique province of Raetia II was to secure one of the most important Raetian main roads. Because the road from Salzburg to Augsburg led only two kilometers south of Aying into the Hofoldinger Forest . According to Faßbinder's investigations, the planned perimeter wall enclosed an interior area of around 46 × 50 meters (around 0.25 hectares). The floor plan shows a clear north-south orientation, but is turned slightly to the east off the axis. The dug foundation trenches were around four to five meters wide. The planned system had four rectangular corner towers protruding from the wall structure as well as three rectangular intermediate towers that also protruded and a gate tower of the same type in the south. As the investigations made clear, an excavation of the ground was carried out for the foundation of all towers over their entire surface. Only in the case of the tower to the south-east was only a foundation trench, as was the case with the surrounding wall. This left a block of earth in the planned center of the tower. The reason for this action is unknown. The trench had apparently not yet begun. The inner surface of the planned fort is completely free of findings and apparently undeveloped. Only a few small pits can be seen. What is remarkable is the fact that, despite a natural gradient of over three meters to the west and northwest, the interior has almost no structures that could indicate earthworks or terracing.
Traces of Roman settlement can be seen immediately south of Aying and around the Peiß, which is closest to the Roman road. Further Roman settlement remains have also been secured on the Roman road itself. The closest place, which can be proven with the information in the traditional Roman street directories Itinerarium Antonini and Tabula Peutingeriana , possibly names for the area Großhelfendorf / Kleinhelfendorf in the 3rd / 4th. Century a street station with the name Isinisco or Isunisca . Although the place itself has not yet been archaeologically convincingly localized, it was identified with Kleinhelfendorf in the past. However, traces of Roman settlement north of Großhelfendorf are explicitly proven. The Roman trunk road to Salzburg, archaeologically secured here in 2017, also passes through this well-known find area. Perhaps the newly discovered fort will provide discussions about the location of Isinisco or Isunisca .
Monument protection
Fort Aying and the other areas mentioned are protected as registered ground monuments within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to authorization, accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities.
literature
- Jörg Faßbinder, Christian Later, Harald Krause, Florian Becker: Construction freeze in Roman times? A newly discovered late antique fort in Aying, Munich district, Upper Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria , 2016 (2017), pp. 93–96.
Remarks
- ↑ Jörg Faßbinder , Christian Later, Harald Krause, Florian Becker: Construction freeze in Roman times? A newly discovered late antique fort in Aying, Munich district, Upper Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria , 2016 (2017), pp. 93–96; here: pp. 93–94.
- ↑ Jörg Faßbinder, Christian Later, Harald Krause, Florian Becker: Construction freeze in Roman times? A newly discovered late antique fort in Aying, Munich district, Upper Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria , 2016 (2017), pp. 93–96; here: p. 95.
- ^ Antonino Di Vita : II "limes" romano di Tripolitania nella sua concretezza archeologica e nella sua realta storica . In: Libya Antiqua 1, 1964, pp. 65-98; here: p. 93; Richard Goodchild (1950): The "Limes Tripolitanus" II . In: Libyan studies. Select papers of the late RG Goodchild. Elek, London 1976, ISBN 0-236-17680-3 , pp. 35-45; here pp. 38–41; Olwen Brogan : Some ancient sites in eastern Tripolitania . In: Libya Antiqua 13-14 (1976-1977), 1984, pp. 93-129; here p. 124; Olwen Hackett , David John Smith : Ghirza. A Libyan settlement in the Roman period. Department of Antiquities, Tripoli 1984, p. 229.
- ↑ Römerstrasse at 47 ° 57 '27.73 " N , 11 ° 45' 31" E ; Roman Road at 47 ° 57 ′ 18.85 " N , 11 ° 46 ′ 0.93" E ; Roman Road at 47 ° 57 ′ 9.99 " N , 11 ° 46 ′ 31.38" E ; Roman Road at 47 ° 57 ′ 1.73 " N , 11 ° 46 ′ 59.15" E ; Römerstrasse at 47 ° 56 '53.53 " N , 11 ° 47' 23.79" O ; Römerstrasse at 47 ° 56 '44.69 " N , 11 ° 47' 46.94" O ; Roman road at 47 ° 57 ′ 36.98 " N , 11 ° 44 ′ 59.7" E
- ↑ Michael Morosow: A protective layer for the Via Julia ; May 17, 2017; Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ.de)
- ↑ Jörg Faßbinder, Christian Later, Harald Krause, Florian Becker: Construction freeze in Roman times? A newly discovered late antique fort in Aying, Munich district, Upper Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria , 2016 (2017), pp. 93–96; here: p. 96. PDF