Fort Eferding

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Fort Eferding
Alternative name a) Ad Mauros?
b) Mariana?
c) Mariniano ?
d) ioviacum ?
limes Limes Noricus
section Route 1
Dating (occupancy) Traian,
mid 1st century AD
to 5th century AD?
Type Cohort and Alenkastell
unit a) Legio II Italica  ?
b) Numerus Maurorum  ?
c) Equites promoti
State of preservation Not visible above ground.
place Eferding
Geographical location 48 ° 19 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 2 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 48 ° 19 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 2 ′ 0 ″  E
height 271  m above sea level A.
Previous Small fort Schlögen (northwest)
Subsequently Watchtower Hirschleitengraben (east)
Limes3.png
Eferding, view from the south
Attempts to locate the fort in Nowotny, 1925 (red), and Eckhart, 1960 (green), in the city
Courthouse
Starhemberg Castle
Rectory

Fort Eferding is an archaeologically unsecured Roman auxiliary troop fort ( Ad Mauros ) and was possibly part of the fortress chain of the Danube Limes in the province of Noricum . It could have been in the municipality of Eferding , Eferding District , Upper Austria . The site has not been adequately researched. Due to the dense development of the area in question, proof of the fortification has not been possible so far. Although the camp has not yet been proven archaeologically, there is no doubt about the existence of a Roman settlement in Eferding, as numerous small finds have been made from this time over the years. Ad Mauros is mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum as the location of a cavalry unit. The grave finds document a Roman settlement continuity up to late antiquity.

Location and name

The city is the capital of the so-called Eferdinger Basin (Aschachwinkel), an approximately ten kilometer wide valley low on the Danube ( Hausruckviertel ). It is located on a low terrace between the Aschach and Innbach estuaries, which is well protected from flooding by the Danube. The Roman base was probably located near a side arm that has since silted up and is now two kilometers from the river bed. The slopes of the Danube Gorge widen downstream at Neuhaus Castle, at Aschach an der Donau they then step back completely from the river bank in the north and south, closing again after 14 km and thus forming a fertile basin landscape.

In research (Rudolf Noll and Lothar Eckhart ) today, the fort is generally equated with the late Roman Ad Mauros , but Ioviacum could also be considered. The only in the Tabula Peutingeriana mentioned Marinianio that long in the research time was regarded as the Eferdinger Castle, was identified as a road station of Rudolf Noll almost certainly. The name of the fort mentioned in the late antique Notitia Dignitatum could be derived from a Moorish (Latin Mauri ) unit from North Africa . In the west of Noricum in particular, brick stamps from the 2nd and 3rd centuries were found with letter combinations that could mean Nu (merus) M (aurorum) B (...?) (See also section Garrison). Iovacum appears in the Antonini Itinerarium as Ioviaco on the Lauriacum-Boiodurum route as a stage. The identification of the neighboring small fort in Schlögen as an Ioviacum is still controversial among experts. Based on the conclusive arguments of Rudolf Noll, Ad Mauros is generally recognized as the most likely variant for the fort in Eferding .

Research history

Although Eferding is considered to be one of the richest archaeological sites in Upper Austria, it has only been rarely studied. The numerous finds of graves, ceramics, coins (“a quantity of Roman medals”) and stamped bricks suggested between the years 1743 and 1894 that there must have been a larger Roman settlement there. Among other things, a coin hoard with 350 denarii came to light, but most of it is lost today. One of the notable discoveries during this period was a relief stone built into the west facade of the parish church (1887).

In 1926 the beneficiary and amateur archaeologist Max Ecker carried out an excavation in his garden. There and in the neighboring garden of the landlord Trautenberger, local researcher Ferdinand Wiesinger (1864–1943) dug a 15 m long, in places three meters deep search trench in order to explore the perimeter of the fort area. Construction remains on top of each other were discovered that had been destroyed by fire. The older settlement layer contained Roman finds that began in the middle of the 1st century, the upper layer was not chronologically classified by Wiesinger. Above all, stamped bricks of the Legio II Italica and a number unit came to light. Several late antique body burials were found in the 1920s and 1937 in the area of ​​the main square, and isolated grave finds to the southwest of it. Ash urns were discovered on the area of ​​the Evangelical Cemetery to the west of today's city center, and other ancient graves are suspected there. In 1930 the remains of a Roman aqueduct (clay pipes) were found in the cellar of an inn.

In 1960 Lothar Eckhart (1918–1990) put on a search trench in a garden at Schlossergasse 7 on behalf of the Upper Austrian State Museum (OÖLM). The search cut was again used to determine the exact location of the fort. The excavation did not reveal any Roman masonry. Only medieval to modern ceramic shards were recovered; there was also a Roman coin among them. A plate was found 25 m east of it on the Gattermeier property, Schlossergasse 9.

In 1970 a massive mortar quarry stone wall running from southwest to northeast was hit at Josef-Mitter-Platz, possibly a section of the fort's western fortifications (Lothar Eckhart).

In 1995 Christine Schwanzar (OÖLM) carried out a search excavation in the two courtyards of the courthouse at No. 31 town square. Under the remnants of modern and medieval buildings, an approximately 20 cm thick Roman-era settlement layer was found, which was probably located on the outermost edge of the Roman settlement (garbage pits).

In 2001 the Federal Monuments Office was able to carry out a two-week investigation on the occasion of the renovation measures of the rectory. It was possible to uncover the remains of a Roman building. During a subsequent inspection of the excavation area, a Jupiter statuette and reading findings were recovered.

development

Due to its favorable geographic location and climatic conditions, the Eferdinger Basin is an ancient cultural soil. The settlement can be traced back to the Neolithic Age . In the younger Iron Age ( Latène Age ), Celtic tribes immigrated to the region and built, among other things, a small port on a branch of the Danube, where grain was obviously handled. With the incorporation of Noricum under Emperor Augustus after 16 BC. A new era began for the area around Eferding. The Romans now also established themselves on the southern bank of the Danube. The Upper Austrian part of the river border was initially hardly fortified because the opposite bank was densely forested, only sparsely populated and secured by a client state system . The fort was probably built towards the end of the 1st century AD, as the earliest coins found there date from the time of Trajan . It is also possible that Christianity finally established itself in the Eferdinger area from the 4th century AD, as the vita of Severin von Noricum mentions a priest in the nearby Ioviacum . The upheavals of the Great Migration also affected Ad Mauros massively. The fort and civil settlement were probably completely destroyed during the 5th century and abandoned by their residents, as the current place name did not appear until the Middle Ages. In the early 6th century, Bavarian settlers immigrated to the Eferdinger Basin. The local population still has the legend today that Eferding was an important town in ancient times, which stretched to today's Rudling on Schärdinger Hauptstrasse. According to the current state of research, no further information can be given, neither about the further fate of Roman Eferding, nor about the population and settlement of the area between the period of late antiquity and the Bavarian conquest.

One of the decisive factors for the construction of a fort was probably the location of the location in terms of traffic. There the Limes road ( via iuxta Danuvium ) crossed a long-distance route that led to Italy via Ovilava and the Pyhrn Pass . The densely wooded and steep bank slopes of the Danube only receded far from the river bank in the Eferdinger Basin, so it could have served the barbarian tribes north of the Danube as a collection area for raids. The Innbach and Aschach rivers could be used as convenient entrances to the interior of the empire. This Alenkastell must have been the next, larger fort downstream to Boiodurum (Passau). After Ad Mauros , Lentia (Linz) followed at a relatively short distance , the last Alenkastell before the legionary camp Lauriacum ( Enns ). The high concentration of camps between Eferding and Enns suggests that this section of the Noric Limes is at increased risk from barbarian invasions (e.g. the Marcomanni ). In late antiquity, the Liburnarians (marines) of the Legio II Italica in the small fort in Schlögen secured the beginning of the 27 km long, often winding, confusing Danube loop and its exit into the Eferding Basin with their patrol ships . The Equites promoti in Ad Mauros probably controlled the road junction there, a section of the southern bank of the Danube and its surrounding area.

Fort, vicus and burial grounds

The location of the military buildings has not yet been precisely determined, and the exact scope of the fort cannot be precisely determined due to the dense development since the Middle Ages, the numerous relocations of soil associated with it and the filling of the city moat. Further traces of Roman settlement were found in the rectory. The southern boundary of the ancient settlement area can be proven up to the level of the district court.

The archaeologist Eduard Nowotny (1862–1935) designed a floor plan for the fort in 1925 based on the course of the street. He reconstructed it as a classic rectangular and 35 hectare (!) Large complex, delimited by

  • the Keplerstrasse in the north,
  • Schmiedstrasse in the south,
  • the Schaumbergerstraße with the now leveled city moat in the west and
  • the main square in the east.

This area measured exactly 640 × 540 Roman feet, i.e. s. 12 Iugera , which would correspond to the area for a cohors miliaria equitata (partly mounted, 1000 men strong). Nowotny believed he could see the via principalis of the camp in Schlossergasse, which ran in north-south direction . Hans Schönberger , on the other hand, suspected a somewhat smaller fortification, since otherwise it would have been larger than Lauriacum . This assumption was also shared by Eckhart in 1960. He suggested the following streets as boundaries:

  • in the north the Keplerstrasse,
  • in the south the Richtgasse,
  • to the west the Schlossergasse,
  • in the east the town square.

According to Eckhart, the fort could have been a little further north, either in the area of ​​today's parish church or from Starhemberg Castle. This position is also supported by Schwanzar, but this theory has not yet been proven. The burial ground proven by the town square shows that this area must have already been outside the fort and vicus area. The excavation of the OÖLM under Schwanzar in the court brought to light a layer of settlement that was also already on the edge of the ancient settlement. An excavation by the Federal Monuments Office in the area of ​​the rectory found remains of Roman-era buildings.

garrison

Since the fort has not yet been located, one can only speculate about the type and origin of its occupation units due to the lack of relevant finds:

Time position Troop name comment
2nd to 3rd century AD Cohors equitata milliaria  ?
(partially mounted cohort, 1000 strong) 		Eduard Nowotny concluded that a cohort of auxiliary troops was located on the basis of his calculations of the fort area made in 1925.
2nd century AD Legio secunda Italica  ? (the second Italian legion) The first occupation could have consisted of a construction vexillation of the Legio II Italica from Lauriacum .
2nd to 3rd century AD Numerus Maurorum  ?,
(A unit of the Moors) 		Gerhard Winkler and Géza Alföldy were the first occupation troops to shortlist a Moorish cohort or cavalry unit ( Ala ). A Cohors V Maurorum equitata and a Cohors Maurorum equitata milliaria have been epigraphically proven for the sub-Pannonian army, but such proof is still pending for the Noric army. Hannsjörg Ubl, on the other hand, interpreted the various brick stamp finds between Enns and Eferding as the legacies of a numerit group (NVMER [us], NMB or NMP).
Numerous brick stamp from Linz
5th century AD Equites promoti, Ad Mauros
(riders detached to Mauros) 		According to the Notitia Dignitatum , riders posted by the legions under the command of the Dux Pannoniae Primae et Norici Ripensis were stationed here in late antiquity .

Monument protection

The facilities are ground monuments within the meaning of the Monument Protection Act. Investigations and targeted collection of finds without the approval of the Federal Monuments Office are a criminal offense. Accidental finds of archaeological objects (ceramics, metal, bones, etc.) as well as all measures affecting the soil must be reported to the Federal Monuments Office (Department for Ground Monuments).

Lost property

In addition to the Starhemberg family's private museum, there is also the Eferding City Museum in the Old Castle. The Roman finds are exhibited there in some showcases. The exhibition rooms in the city museum were designed by Christine Schwanzar (OÖLM). Some of the finds from the 2001 excavation are presented in the rectory (e.g. Terra Sigillata , the copy of the Jupiter statuette mentioned above, etc.). A notice board with brief explanations about the Roman Eferding was set up by the OÖLM on the main square.

See also

literature

  • Christine Schwanzar: The Roman border section between Passau and Linz, Upper Austria - border region of the Roman Empire. Special exhibition of the Upper Austria. State Museum in Linz Castle, 1986.
  • Christine Schwanzar: The Danube Limes in Upper Austria. In: Jana Leskovar, Christine Schwanzar and Gerhard Winkler (eds.): What we stand on. Archeology in Upper Austria . 2003 (Catalogs of the Upper Austrian State Museum, new series. 195).
  • Kurt Genser: The Austrian Danube Limes in Roman times. A research report. Vienna 1986 (The Roman Limes in Austria. No. 33).
  • Kurt Genser: Origin and Development of the Middle Danube Limes. Nordico - Museum d. City of Linz, 2001, ISBN 3-85484-573-1 .
  • Manfred Kandler and Hermann Vetters (eds.): The Roman Limes in Austria. A guide. Vienna 1989.
  • Zsolt Visy : Limes XIX Proceeding of the XIX International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies held in Pécs. Hungary, September 2003. University of Pécs, 2005.
    Therein: Hannsjörg Ubl: The Noric Provincial Army of the Princely Period reflected     in new diploma and inscription finds . Pp. 107-270.
  • Rudolf Noll: Roman settlements and roads in the Limes area between Inn and Enns (Upper Austria), The Roman Limes in Austria. Volume 21, Vienna 1958.
  • Lothar Eckhart: The excavations in 1960 in Schlögen, Oberranna and Eferding. Pro Austria Romana No. 10, 1960.
  • Franz Kaindl: Eferding city on Nibelungenstrasse. Publishing house Moserbauer, Ried i. I. 2003, ISBN 3-902121-20-3 .
  • Georg Heilingsetzer : Austrian city atlas. Part 2: Eferding, Franz Deuticke, Vienna 1997.
  • Rene Ployer: Eferding. Castle (?) . In: Verena Gassner / Andreas Pülz (ed.): The Roman Limes in Austria. Guide to the archaeological monuments , publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-7001-7787-6 , pp. 143–144.
  • René Ployer: The Norwegian Limes in Austria . Find reports from Austria, Materialhefte series B 3, Österr. Federal Monuments Office, Vienna 2013.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Rudolf Noll: 1958, p. 54.
  2. ↑ Tabula Peutingeriana , Segmentum IV / 4.
  3. ↑ Hannsjörg Ubl: 2005, p. 115.
  4. ↑ ( 249,1 ) Lauriaci-Ovilatus 16 , Ovilatus-Ioviaco 27, Ioviaco-Stanaco 18 and Stanaco-Boioduro 20 roman miles.
  5. ↑ Georg Heilingsetzer: 1997, p. 1, and Franz Kaindl: 2003, p. 22.
  6. ^ Find reports from Austria , Volume 1, 1930-1934, p. 62 and Christine Schwanzar: 1986, p. 53.
  7. ↑ a b Kurt Genser: 1986, p. 83.
  8. ^ Find reports from Austria , Volume 7, 1959–60, p. 115. Pro Austria Romana , Volume 10, 1960, p. 28.
  9. ^ Find reports from Austria , Volume 9, 1970, p. 204.
  10. ↑ Christine Schwanzar: 2003, p. 102.
  11. ↑ Find reports from Austria , Volume 40, 2001, p. 40 and Römisches Österreich , No. 26, 2003.
  12. ^ Franz Kaindl: 2003, p. 21.
  13. ↑ Kurt Genser: 2001, p. 14.
  14. ↑ Kurt Genser: 1986, pp. 89-90.
  15. ↑ Elmar Mattle: 2006, pp. 38-39.
  16. ^ Rudolf Noll: 1958, p. 31, Eduard. Nowotny, The Danube route between Linz and Passau, in: Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Classe of the Academy of Sciences 62, 1925, pp. 90f.
  17. ↑ Christine Schwanzar: 2003, pp. 102-104.
  18. ↑ Kurt Genser: 1986, p. 89.
  19. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum , Occ. XXXIV 31 (4 locations: Ad Mauros, Commagena, Arrabona, Flexo ).
  20. ↑ Monument Protection Act ( Memento of the original dated November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the side of the Federal Monuments Office @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bda.at