Mohács-Kölked Castle

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Mohács-Kölked Castle
Alternative name Altinum
limes Pannonian Limes
section 8th
Dating (occupancy) most likely late 1st
to 4th or early 5th century
Type a) Cohort fort
b) Late antique cavalry fort
unit a) Cohors I Lusitanorum  ?
b) Equites sagittarii
c) Cuneus equitum Fortensium
size Width: 230 m; Length can no longer be clearly determined
Construction Stone construction,
rectangular system with rounded corners
State of preservation Damaged by washing away, no residues can be seen on site.
place Mohács - Kölked
Geographical location 45 ° 57 '22 "  N , 18 ° 41' 2.1"  E
height 88  m
Previous Dunaszekcső Fort (north-northeast)
Burgus contra Florentiam (north-northeast)
Subsequently Fort Ad Militare (southeast)
The location of the fort on the Lower Pannonian Danube Limes.

The Mohács-Kölked Fort ( Latin Altinum ) was a Roman military camp , the crew of which was responsible for security and surveillance tasks on the Pannonian Danube Limes ( Limes Pannonicus ) . In ancient times, the facility was located directly on the Danube, which today runs around three kilometers to the northeast . The river formed here in large sections the Roman imperial border. The remains, which are hidden under agricultural land today, are in the northern part of the Hungarian municipality of Kölked , south of the city of Mohács in Baranya County .

location

The outlines of the fort can only be seen very faintly on the aerial photographs. In the foreground the landscape formed by the Danube, in the light field, to the left of the group of bushes, is the fort area.

The area near today's Hungarian southern border has been settled since the early Bronze Age. Until 1991, Bronze Age pits and two graves of Baden culture were repeatedly found in the area of ​​the former camp village under the Roman layers . Fluvial erosions and accumulations formed a floodplain relief that has manifested itself as a landscape characterized by slight bumps . The relief of the terrain, which has changed considerably since antiquity, shows old channel bed patterns, drainage regimes and later reshaping. To protect the north-east facing fort from flooding by the Danube, it was built on a small hill called Vártető. Today, a stream flowing north-east of the hill marks a former oxbow lake of the river, which, after the fort was abandoned, over time became part of the praetentura. H. the front storage area, washed away. The Limes road coming from the Dunaszekcső Fort in the north forked shortly before Altinum, a route presumably ran along or under today's Landstrasse 56 a little west of the Roman Fort of Kölked. The other route, partly documented for the first time by an aerial photograph from 1962, came from the north-west almost directly to the western fort ditches and joined to the south of the fortification with the Via principalis coming out of the south gate , one of the two main streets of the fort. In late antiquity, Altinum was the southernmost camp in the province of Valeria.

Surname

Altinum is mentioned in two main ancient sources. For example in the Itinerarium Antonini , a directory of the most important Roman imperial roads from the 3rd century, and the late antique state manual Notitia dignitatum .

Research history

The officer and scholar Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658–1730) reported on Roman finds in the 17th century. Georg Klimo (1710–1777), bishop of the free royal city of Fünfkirchen ( Pécs ), who, as an important self-taught scholar, had donated a public library (1774) and the first printing press, also a coin cabinet there, followed his descriptions . Also Flóris Rómer (1815-1889), the founder of scientific archeology in Hungary dug on site, his example was soon followed by other archaeologists.

After deep plowing by the local agricultural production cooperative (LPG), amateur archaeologists dug on a larger scale in the early 1970s and also made a drawing for it. In 1975, the archaeologist and then General Director of the Hungarian National Museum , Ferenc Fülep (1919–1986) and his colleague Alice Sz. Burger worked in Altinum with minor explorations. The area was then declared an archaeological reserve and should therefore be secured for future further investigations. But from 1984 illegal excavations took place by the LPG without consulting the experts. It was not until 1988 that this destructive activity could be stopped. In the spring of the same year, Zsolt Visy undertook a field inspection. He was followed by Zsuzsa Katona-Győr, who had already worked in the camp village in 1986 and now carried out extensive emergency excavations in the fort from 1987 to 1989. A geophysical prospecting carried out in February 2009 provided the first opportunity to get to know the structures of the fort and vicus better.

Building history

The originally rectangular fort floor plan was around 230 meters long, the remaining width was measured at 150 to 180 meters. There was a gate on each of the four long sides. As usual with the camps of the middle imperial period, this facility also had rounded corners (playing card shape) which were secured by a watchtower. Amateur archaeologists who dug up the defensive walls in sections at the beginning of the 1970s found three of the original four corner towers. It turned out that these originally rectangular towers were later replaced by fan-shaped ones. Many Pannonian forts were equipped with this type of towers in late antiquity. A coin found during the excavations at the Baracspuszta Castle (Annamatia), which was minted during the reign of Emperor Constantine II (337–340), is considered to be the earliest point in time for this reconstruction.

A short time after the hobby researchers began scientific excavations under Fülep. In addition to the completely destroyed eastern part of the complex, the archaeologists also found the western and southern parts to be heavily eroded. Fülep cut the west and south walls of the complex to clarify the structure of the defense. It became clear on the western side that there must have been an older wood-earth fortification at the same place before the stone fence was built. Katona-Győr was able to confirm this. She found that the early camp was protected by a strong wooden palisade, the post pits of which stood in three parallel rows. The fort was protected by a three-meter-deep trench to secure the apron. Based on the finds, the archaeologist assumed that Altinum was founded towards the end of the 1st century AD.

Earlier scientific excavations focused on the Principia , the staff building of the fort. However, the area here was already so deeply and deeply ransacked that the excavators were mostly only able to find outbreaks or the lower edge of the foundations. So neither a door threshold could be discovered in situ , nor could any traces of the entrances be made out.

The barracks where the soldiers lived stood out in the area through thin walls made of stones and bricks. Katona-Győr uncovered three of these buildings, which were oriented towards the earth dam of the camp defense. Eleven ovens were found very close to the fence.

Troop

The Cohors I Lusitanorum (1st cohort of the Lusitanians ), possibly a partially mounted troop, lay in Altinum between 118/119 and 180 in the opinion of the epigrapher Barnabás Lőrincz (1951–2012). In the year 167 AD this cohort still appears in the Pannonian troop lists, possibly it also took part in the Marcomann Wars (166-180). Subsequently, the Lusitanians evidently did not return to Altinum, but were perhaps relocated to the Szekszárd Fort, which is not scientifically proven, a little further north . Based on the grave inscription of a cohort centurion of the Cohors I Lusitanorum discovered in 2000 , which comes from the burial fields of the Cuccium Fort to the south, this unit would also be present there instead of in Szekszárd. Lőrincz places the inscription at the end of the 2nd century AD. The troops that followed the Cohors I Lusitanorum in Altinum have remained unknown to this day. According to Lőrincz, it could have been the Cohors I Alpinorum peditata (1st infantry cohort of the Alpine countries), which was previously located in the Dunakömlőd (Lussonium) fort . According to other researchers, the Alpine countries could have been moved from Lussonium to the Őcsény-Szigetpuszta fort , the presumed Alisca, at the same time .

For Altinum Equites sagittarii , mounted archers, who according to the opinion of the archaeologist Sándor Soproni could have been moved to Dunafalva around 380 , are proven as occupying troops for the 4th century . It is possible that their relocation was ordered a little earlier, in the Valentine era (364–375). Follow-up investigations by the archaeologists Zsolt Mráv and Éva Maróti on the structurally identical Ländeburgi in Dunakeszi (2002) and Szigetmonostor-Horány (1995) confirm this assumption. The last known troop for Altinum is a cavalry squadron, the Cuneus equitum Fortensium .

Vicus and burial ground

As field inspections showed, the vicus , the camp village belonging to the fort , surrounded the fortification in a semicircle. Its eastern part, however, was destroyed by the Danube. Katona-Győr developed parts of Roman stone buildings on the southeast side of the fort hill until 1991. In addition to the fortifications, houses with rammed floors, ovens and pits came to light in the vicus area. According to the records of Rómer and his successors, Roman graves were primarily known directly in front of the western camp front.

Roman-era settlement points are also known from the wider area around the garrison. Between 1963 and 1965, under the direction of László Papp (1903–1973) and subsequently by Alice Sz. Burger, a Roman cemetery with 53 burials southeast of Majs was opened up. The graves consisted of cremation graves from the end of the 3rd century and - in the majority - body graves from the beginning of the 4th century. In addition to 100 coins, rich jewelry items were found in the women's graves as well as weapons and costume items among the men.

Post-Roman development

After the Roman troops withdrew, Germanic peoples and Avars settled nearby, as u. a. the important finds from the two burial grounds in Kölked-Feketekapu A and B - seven kilometers south of Mohács - show. The Avars settled there on the edge of the flood area of ​​the Danube. From approx. 570 to 750 there was presumably a village 1.5 kilometers from the fort on the old Limes road, which was inhabited by around thirty families of Germanic descent. According to the Byzantine geographer of Ravenna , who wrote in the 7th century, this route was still in use as a trade route during the Avar period. The village, which has been inhabited for generations, may have developed in an elongated form along the shore. The archaeologists were able to examine 107 free-standing ovens. The interior furnishings of the exposed huts usually included a mortar and plasterless hearth with a pseudo vault, the building material of which came from the site of the ruined fort.

In this epoch, in addition to the Teutons, farmers and craftsmen of Romanic origin lived in the greater Kölked – Keszthely area , who may have been settled here by the Avars. A little south of the fort, the battle of Mohács took place on August 29, 1526 .

  • Find from the cemetery Kölked-Feketekapu A

  • Finds from two men's graves - grave 39 (front), grave 264 (back): bronze belt buckle, Merovingian horse harness, spathe (sword) and shield hump; Late 6th / early 7th century.

  • From a girl's grave (grave 438): bronze brooch, cast silver bow brooch (Nocera Umbra type), pyramid-shaped earrings with circular eyes; Late 6th / early 7th century.

  • From a woman's burial (grave 108): Byzantine-looking jewelry with golden crescent-shaped earrings, hairpins and a silver needle box; Late 6th / early 7th century.

  • The grave of a blacksmith (grave 80): In addition to his weapons like a spathe, the deceased was given his blacksmith's tools; second half of the 7th century.

  • Bone comb, late 6th to 8th centuries

Finds

Since the ancient site has long been known, a large number of finds have been recovered from the site. Much of it was lost over the centuries as the people living in the area also took part in these looting. The first scientifically examined material from the fort was unstamped terra sigillata from the 4th century from the Principia . In addition, large quantities of tableware were discovered - also in the staff building. Unfortunately, the upper layers there, which were the only finds of this kind, were already too heavily disrupted for an exact stratigraphic examination to be possible.

The finds known up to 1976 included the stamped bricks of the Legio II Adiutrix (2nd Legion "the Helping"), stationed in northern Aquincum ( Budapest ) until the reign of Lucius Verus (162-166 ), those of the Cohors VII Breucorum (7th century AD) . Breucer cohort). In addition, Valentine stamps with the place name QVADRIBVRG were found , in the 1980s stamps with this imprint were discovered again. Quadriburgum was located in northern Hungary, at the point where the village of Sárisáp is located today , which in turn lies south of the late antique fort of Tokod. The fragment of a bronze statuette of the god Mercury , a further fragment of a statuette ( Ianus ?), The fragment of a bronze tripus (three-legged device) with a woman's bust, a marble woman's head and still sparse inscriptions were also described. The best known is the only published grave inscription from this site, which was made for Aurelia Dobnina, who died between 200 and 300 years ago.

Lost property

Some of the finds recovered by Klimo, Rómer and their subsequent archaeologists were brought to the museums of Mohács and Pécs (Janus-Pannonius-Muzeum), and much of it is in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. The remainder are either lost or are in private collections.

Limes course between the Kölked fort and the Ad Militare fort

Traces of the military structures along the Limes Road and the Danube.
route Name / place Description / condition
8th Sátorhely, Török-domb (Burgus Altinum 1) To the south of Altinum, Limesstrasse bends to the east. Around two kilometers south of the Mohács National Memorial (Mohácsi történelmi emlékhely), which was built in 1976 and commemorates the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , there is an almost completely eroded, small hill on the east side of highway 56, which leads south along the Danube. A possible Roman watchtower could have stood on this elevation. It bears the name "Turk's Hill" (Török-domb). In the past, a bend in the Danube flowed past the elevation immediately to the east. A map from 1766 shows not only the hill, but also a moat that surrounds it. At that time there was still a building on the elevation, next to which the cartographer put a double cross. According to the scale of the map, the mound was approximately 25 × 32 meters. The trench could have had a diameter of 65 meters. On a somewhat older map by the cartographer Sámuel Mikoviny (approx. 1700–1750) the hill is shown as the place where the tent of the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman II (1642–1691) is said to have stood. László Papp (1903–1973), a pioneer of medieval field archeology in Hungary, saw this idea as incompatible with the historical situation. On the other hand, he located the medieval settlement of Földvár in the vicinity of Török-domb. According to Zsolt Visy, the origin of the village name Földvár (= earth castle) could possibly refer to Roman building remains that lay under the hill that was raised in places by human hands. The name "Turkish Hill" and its relation to the Ottoman occupation is obviously a speculation of the post-Turkish era. Endre Gergely, an employee of the Military History Museum Budapest, uncovered the remains of the earthwork around the hill from a scientific point of view while searching for the remains of the battle of 1526 in 1924. He found the remains of a Roman building on the top of the elevation. The church of Földvár could also have stood there. On the opposite side of highway 56, he was also able to find prehistoric objects in what was then the southernmost building of the Újistálló puszta farm. They were in an area where Gergely also claims to have found Roman body graves. From today's perspective, Gergely's descriptions are more likely to fit the burial places of medieval Földvár. In 1940, under the direction of the Pécs archaeologist János Dombai (1900–1961), the remains of the Roman wall were examined. He interpreted the site on the hilltop as a Roman Burgus. What is certain is that there was a Roman burial ground on the southern edge of the hill. One tomb contained a coin from the reign of Emperor Numerian (283–284). Some of the finds from the graves can now be found in the Kanizsai Dorottya Museum in Mohács. Since most of the mound was removed after the Second World War, most of the old investigations can no longer be verified. Only at the top of the hill have there been archaeologically evaluable layers of culture . There is a 0.90 meter thick foundation, which is designed as Opus spicatum . There is also a layer in the same area that contains an excessive amount of stones. Possibly they belong to the remains of a tower with an unknown time position. An aerial photo shows building remains in the flat field west of the hill, which may have belonged to an ancient settlement.
8th Udvar The border town of Udvar lies a few hundred meters south of the Roman remains. The Pannonian Limes in Hungary ends here today. The Croatian Limes stretch along the Danube begins .
Batina / Kiskőszeg The fort area of Ad Militare is located in the vicinity of the Soviet-Yugoslav freedom monument standing on a hill and was first examined by Hungarian researchers in the 19th century.

Monument protection

The monuments of Hungary are protected under the Act No. LXIV of 2001 by being entered in the register of monuments. The fort as well as all other Limes facilities belong to the nationally valuable cultural property as archaeological sites according to § 3.1. According to § 2.1, all finds are state property, regardless of where they are found. Violations of the export regulations are considered a criminal offense or a crime and are punished with imprisonment for up to three years.

See also

literature

  • Ulrich Brandl: Card 6: Brick stamp distribution of the Legio II Adiutrix. In: Investigations into the brick temples of Roman legions in the north-western provinces of the Imperium Romanum. Catalog of the Julius B. Fritzemeier Collection. P. 68. No. 28.
  • Alice Sz. Burger , Ferenc Fülep : Area between the Drava and the Limes route Lussonium – Altinum. In: The Roman Inscriptions of Hungary. (RIU) Volume 4. Akadémiai, Budapest 1984, ISBN 963-05-3254-9 , p. 11 ff.
  • Alice Sz. Burger: The sculptures of the urban area of ​​Sopianae and the area between the Drava and the Limes route Lussonium-Altinum (= Corpus signorum imperii Romani. Part 7). Akadémiai, Budapest 1991, ISBN 963-05-5595-6 .
  • Ferenc Fülep: Kölked. In: Archaeologiai Értesítő 105, 1976, p. 294.
  • Jenő Fitz (ed.): The Roman Limes in Hungary. (= Az István Király Múzeum közleményei. Series A, Volume 22). Fejér Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, Székesfehérvár 1976
  • Zsuzsa Katona-Győr: Altinum. In: Zsolt Visy (Ed.): The Roman Army in Pannonia. An Archaeological Guide of the Ripa Pannonica. Teleki László Foundation, Pécs 2003.
  • Attila Kiss: Előzetes jelentes (II.) A Kölked - feketekapui avarkóri település és temetők ásatásáról - Preliminary report (II.) On the excavation of the Avar settlement and burial grounds of Kölked-Feketekapu. In: Folia archaeologica , 39, 1988, pp. 173-194.
  • Attila Kiss: The burial ground and the settlement of the Avar period Germanic population of Kölked - A Kölked-feketekapui avarkori germán temető és telep. In: Folia archaeologica , 30, 1979, pp. 185-192.
  • Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 .
  • Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 .
  • Zsuzsanna Hajnal: Pottery of a late antique character from the Avar period settlement of Kölked-Feketekapu. In: Communicationes archeologicae Hungariae. Budapest 2005. pp. 477-480.

Web links

Commons : Kastell Mohács-Kölked  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Zsuzsa Katona-Győr: Kölked, Himberg (Kom.Baranya) (XXIV). In: Archaeologiai értesítő. Vol. 118. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1991. p. 123.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 107.
  3. ↑ Itinerarium Antonini 244.
  4. ↑ Notitia dignitatum occ. 33, 95.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Jenő Fitz (ed.): The Roman Limes in Hungary . Fejér Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 1976, p. 117.
  6. ↑ a b c Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 125.
  7. ^ A b József Korek: The excavation activity of the Hungarian National Museum in 1975. In: Folia archaeologica. Vol. 28 Budapest 1977, p. 213.
  8. ^ Zsuzsa Katona-Győr: Altinum Castellum. In: Zsolt Visy (ed.): The Roman army in Pannonia. Teleki Lázló Foundation 2003, ISBN 963-86388-2-6 , p. 133.
  9. ↑ Endre Tóth : Group C. Fortresses with fan-shaped corner and. U-shaped intermediate towers. In: Endre Tóth: The late Roman military architecture in Transdanubia. Archaeologiai Értesitő 134. Budapest 2009. p. 44.
  10. ↑ a b Zsuzsa Katona-Győr: Altinum Castellum. In: Zsolt Visy (ed.): The Roman army in Pannonia. Teleki Lázló Foundation 2003, ISBN 963-86388-2-6 , p. 134.
  11. ^ A b Eduard Anthes, Wilhelm Unverzagt: The Alzei fort. 1: The fort buildings in Alzei and related facilities. 2: The timing. In: Bonner Jahrbücher. Yearbooks of the Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland. Vol. 122, 1912. p. 154.
  12. ↑ Barnabás Lőrincz: The Roman auxiliaries in Pannonia during the Principate's time. Part I: The Inscriptions. Forschungsgesellschaft Wiener Stadtarchäologie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-902086-02-5 , p. 52.
  13. ^ Barnabás Lőrincz: On the crews of the auxiliary fort in Eastern Pannonia. In: Miroslava Mirkovic (ed.): Roman cities and fortresses on the Danube. Filozofski fakultet, Belgrade 2005, ISBN 86-80269-75-1 , p. 63.
  14. ↑ Barnabás Lőrincz: The Roman auxiliaries in Pannonia during the Principate's time. Part I: The Inscriptions. Forschungsgesellschaft Wiener Stadtarchäologie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-902086-02-5 , p. 28.
  15. ↑ Jenő Fitz (ed.): The Roman Limes in Hungary. Fejér Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, 1976, p. 111.
  16. ↑ a b Sándor Soproni: The last decades of the Pannonian Limes. CH Beck. Munich 1985, ISBN 3-406-30453-2 . P. 76.
  17. ↑ Notitia dignitatum occ. XXXII 28.
  18. ↑ Alice Sz. Burger: Rómaikori temető Majson . In: Archaeologiai Értesítő, 99, 1972, pp. 64-100.
  19. ↑ Roman burial ground Majs at 45 ° 53 ′ 39.48 ″  N , 18 ° 37 ′ 7.81 ″  E
  20. ↑ Attila Kiss: The Avar period-gepidische grave field of Kölked-Feketekapu A. Innsbruck 1996, ISBN 3-7030-0298-0 .
  21. ↑ Attila Kiss: The Avar Age Cemetery in Kölked-Feketekapu B. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest 2001, ISBN 963-9046-55-8 .
  22. ↑ Attila Kiss: The Avar Age Cemetery in Kölked-Feketekapu B. Hungarian National Museum, Budapest 2001, ISBN 963-9046-55-8 . P. 16.
  23. ↑ Heinz Winter: Avar grave and litter finds from Eastern Austria. A contribution to the history of settlements Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 1997, ISBN 3-7030-0305-7 . P. 70.
  24. ↑ Walter Pohl: The Avars. A steppe people in Central Europe, 567–822 AD. CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-48969-9 . Pp. 92-93.
  25. ↑ Alice Sz. Burger, Ferenc Fülep: Area between the Drau and the Limes route Lussonium-Altinum. In: The Roman Inscriptions of Hungary (RIU) Vol. 4. Akadémiai Kiadó. Budapest 1984, ISBN 963-05-3254-9 , p. 16.
  26. ↑ AE 1984, 00728 .
  27. ↑ Route = numbering follows Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary (Theiss 1988) and Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. (Akadémiai Kiadó 2003)
  28. ↑ Burgus Altinum 1 at 45 ° 55 '40.04 "  N , 18 ° 39' 36.43"  O ; Source: Zsolt Máté (ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2 , National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 5.
  29. ↑ Mohács National Memorial for the Battle of 1526 at 45 ° 56 ′ 29.41 ″  N , 18 ° 38 ′ 49.76 ″  E
  30. ↑ László Papp: A mohácsi csatatér kutatása (excavations on the battlefield of Mohács). In: A Janus Pannonius Múzeum Evkönyve 5, 1960 (1961), pp. 197-251.
  31. ↑ a b Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 108.
  32. ↑ a b Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 126.
  33. ↑ Zsolt Máté (ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2 , National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 5; Róbert Lóki, Máté Szabó, Zsolt Visy: A PTE kutatócsoportja által felmért lelőhelyek katalógusa. In: Zsolt Visy (ed.): A Danube Limes program régészeti kutatásai 2008–2011 között. University of Péc, Péc 2011, ISBN 978-963-642-447-3 , p. 53 ff. P. 99.
  34. ↑ Udvar at 45 ° 54 '1.69 "  N , 18 ° 39" 34.14 "  E
  35. ↑ Kastell Ad Militare at 45 ° 51 '15.97 "  N , 18 ° 50' 56.34"  O .