Kemel fort

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Kemel fort
limes ORL 7 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes ,
route 2
(western Taunus route)
Dating (occupancy) Antonine until
probably around 259/260
(replaced the small fort "Auf dem Pohl bei Kemel" )
Type Numerus fort
unit unknown number
size 92.5 m × 77.4 m = 0.7 ha
Construction stone
State of preservation largely overbuilt ground monument
place Heidenrod - Kemel
Geographical location 50 ° 9 '55.7 "  N , 8 ° 0' 57.8"  E
height 518  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort "Auf dem Dörsterberg"
(north)
Subsequently Small fort Adolfseck (east)
Upstream Small fort "Auf dem Pohl bei Kemel"
(north; earlier)

The Kemel fort is a former Roman garrison on the Upper German Limes , which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005 . The camp, designed for a numerus , is now a largely overbuilt ground monument in the settlement core of Kemel , a district of the municipality of Heidenrod in the Hessian Rheingau-Taunus district .

Location and research history

Site plan of the two small fort and the numerus fort (1898–1900)

At Kemel the Limes changes its course and swings in a large radius to the east from the previously followed direction, which tends to lead to the southeast. On the "Pohl" near Kemel, it reaches its highest point at 537 meters in the section between Bad Ems and the Aar . Immediately at the top there is an excellent all-round view, which extends from the "gray head" at the Holzhausen fort to almost the Zugmantel fort and far into the Limes area. The watershed between Aar and Wisper also runs at this point . Due to the exposed topographical location, this place is also exposed to very rough and cold winds, which may have been one reason why the Kemel numerus fort was built in the sheltered, but also somewhat deeper, hollow a little behind the Limes. Another reason may have been the securing of the water supply from the Aulbach , which rises there . In today's settlement geographical picture, the soil monument is located in the center of the village of Kemel.

The forts of Kemel were discovered in 1898 by Hans Lehner , the regional route commissioner of the Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK), and archaeologically excavated in two excavation campaigns (1898 and 1899) and a smaller excavation (1900) . In retrospect, Lehner's achievements can hardly be overestimated, since with the excavation methods of the late 19th century it was by no means a matter of course to determine and correctly interpret the findings in the area of ​​the largely overbuilt and profoundly disturbed numerus fort. The excavation of the small fort "Auf dem Pohl bei Kemel", which was built using the wood-earth construction method, represented an excavation challenge for the time, which Lehner solved brilliantly.

An emergency excavation in the area of ​​the vicus , the civil settlement that can be found in almost every Roman border garrison, was carried out in 2001 by the State Office for Monument Preservation of Hesse .

Findings

Fort floor plan in the center of Kemel (1898–1900)

The stone fort of Kemel took the form of a slightly irregular rectangle with sides of around 92.50 m (on the south-east side, the north-west side is slightly longer) by 77.40 m. The defensive wall, rounded at the corners, was 1.50 m thick as it rose, the foundation was 1.60 m to 1.70 m wide. It was made of greywackstone , which were walled with lime mortar, which was in places interspersed with brick powder. The difference in height within the fort area of ​​a good 0.7 hectares enclosed in this way was considerable at around ten meters (= almost 10 percent) from the fort front to the Dekumat side. With its Porta praetoria (main gate) the fort faced northeast, towards the Limes. The total number of goals can only be specified with at least two, but presumably four. Only the Porta praetoria was completely excavated , the Porta decumana (rear gate) could at least be identified. The areas in which the Porta principalis dextra and the Porta principalis sinistra (right and left side gates) should have been had already been completely demolished at the time of the activities of the Imperial Limes Commission, presumably in connection with medieval or modern road construction work. The gates were flanked by defensive towers to the right and left of the passage. The rounded corners of the defensive wall were also occupied with towers. Immediately adjacent to the defensive wall was - after a one meter wide berm - a simple pointed ditch that was seven meters wide and 2.20 m deep. The trench stopped in front of the Porta praetoria .

Traces of the interior development remained - despite an intensive search - marginal. Everything indicated that the Roman cultural layer had already been almost completely removed during the development in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period. The vicus area was not examined separately during the excavations of the Reich Limes Commission from 1898 to 1900. Due to the concentration of surface finds, however, its location, mainly south and southeast of the garrison, could be determined. Probing that was carried out to find the fort baths was negative, as found remains of the foundation could not be clearly assigned and could have belonged to both the terms and the buildings of the vicus . During an emergency excavation by the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse in 2001, the cellar of a house in the vicus area was partially excavated. Today nothing can be seen of the findings in Kemel. Only the course of today's main street provides a weak indication of the former fortification. In the Middle Ages - when the ruins formed the origin of today's village of Kemel - it was laid out in such a way that it led through the two side gates and connected them with one another.

The Kemel fort was built in the Antonine period shortly after the middle of the second century AD as the successor to the younger hill of the small fort "Auf dem Pohl bei Kemel" . Its crew consisted of a number not known by name , an auxiliary group of around 140 to 160 men. The fort probably existed until the areas on the right bank of the Rhine were abandoned around 259/260 ( Limesfall ). Long after the end of the fort, the medieval town of Kemel probably formed on its ruins.

Limes course between the fort near Kemel and the small fort Adolfseck

From Kemel, where it swings in a large radius from its previous southeast direction to the east, the Limes initially moves in an irregular course to the valley of the Aar, which was secured with the small fort Adolfseck . It runs exclusively through wooded or agricultural areas north of Heimbach and Lindschied .

Traces of the Limes structures between the fort near Kemel and the small fort Adolfseck
ORL 7 Kemel fort see above
KK "On the Pohl near Kemel" see separate article Small fort "Auf dem Pohl bei Kemel"
Wp 2/49 Presumed location of a watchtower, which may have taken its position after the small fort in Kemel was abandoned. The site has not yet been proven archaeologically.
Wp 2/50 "At Kemel" Tower point
Wp 2 / 50a Due to the average distances between Limes watchtowers, a suspected but so far not archaeologically proven tower location.
Wp 2/51 "At the gallows head" Tower site of a stone tower.
Wp 2/52 "Galgenhof" The tower part of a stone tower is clearly recognizable as a rubble mound.
Wp 2/53 "On the Silberberg" Recognizable rubble mound of the tower site of a stone tower.
Wp 2/54 "North of Lindschied" The tower point of a stone tower that can be located through the surrounding stone debris.
Wp 2/55 "At the Seifenberg" Tower site of a stone tower.
" Justinus rock " Boulder with the ancient inscription
IANVA
RIVS IVSTINVS

Presumably, a Roman auxiliary soldier (or legionnaire ) who was on guard duty at the Limes or worked in a nearby quarry immortalized himself with a graffito . The stone is located around 200 m north of the Limes.

KK Small fort Adolfseck see main article Small fort Adolfseck

Monument protection

The Kemel fort and the adjacent Limes facilities have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper German-Raetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, they are ground monuments within the meaning of the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

Web links

  • Kemel Castle on the website of the German Limes Commission
  • Kemel fort on Stefan Dornbusch's private Limes project page

Remarks

  1. ↑ 520.10 m above sea level NN at the Porta praetoria.
  2. ↑ 510.07 m above sea level NN at the Porta decumana.
  3. ↑ Dietwulf Baatz: The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 115.
  4. ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL.
  5. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  6. ↑ Wp = W oh p east, watch tower. The number before the slash denotes the Limes section, the number after the slash denotes the respective watchtower.
  7. ↑ Wp 2/50 at 50 ° 9 '50.97 "  N , 8 ° 1' 25.72"  O .
  8. ↑ Wp 2 / 50a at 50 ° 9 '50.84 "  N , 8 ° 1' 53.38"  O .
  9. ↑ Wp 2/51 at 50 ° 9 '49.46 "  N , 8 ° 2' 17.95"  O .
  10. ↑ Wp 2/52 at 50 ° 9 '44.57 "  N , 8 ° 2' 48.58"  O .
  11. ↑ Wp 2/53 at 50 ° 9 '46.68 "  N , 8 ° 3' 17.66"  O .
  12. ↑ Wp 2/54 at 50 ° 9 '57.38 "  N , 8 ° 3' 47.17"  O .
  13. ↑ Wp 2/55 at 50 ° 9 '56.6 "  N , 8 ° 4' 15.46"  O .