Urspring Castle
Map with all coordinates: | Urspring Castle | |
|---|---|
| Alternative name | Ad Lunam |
| limes | ORL 66a ( RLK ) |
| Route (RLK) | Alblimes |
| Dating (occupancy) | 75/85 AD to 155/165 vicus until the middle of the 3rd century |
| Type | Cohort fort |
| unit | unknown cohort |
| size | 135 m × 132.5 m = 1.79 ha |
| Construction | a) Wood and earth fort. b) Stone fort |
| State of preservation | visible deformations of the terrain |
| place | Lonsee origin |
| Geographical location | 48 ° 33 '0 " N , 9 ° 54' 2.5" E |
| Previous |
Fort Donnstetten (west) Fort Gomadingen (west-southwest) |
| Subsequently | Heidenheim Fort (east north-east) |
The Ursprunging fort , known in antiquity as Ad Lunam , was a Roman military camp in the Alblimes . It is located with the associated fort vicus as a ground monument under the fields east of Urspring , a district of the municipality of Lonsee in the Alb-Danube district of Baden-Württemberg .
location
The Ad Lunam fort is located under the agriculturally used areas around 500 m northeast of the current village of Urspring and around 250 m east of the source of the Lone . The area in the corridors "An der Herberg", "Herberge" and "Guckele" is around 30 m above the bottom of the Lone Valley on a slope that slopes strongly to the south. The rubble mounds of the former defensive wall, which still stand out like a rampart around the fort square, have given the square the name "Ringäcker".
In ancient times, the fortification was located here in a geographically and strategically important position. Immediately below the fort square was an important junction of Roman roads . From the Alblimesstrasse, which came from Clarenna ( Donnstetten ) to Aquileia ( Heidenheim ) and which in this region at least temporarily formed part of the long-distance connection from Mogontiacum (Mainz) to Augusta Vindelicorum ( Augsburg ), a road branched off to Guntia ( Günzburg) ) and Ponione ( Faimingen ). Another route to Viana ( Unterkirchberg ) can be assumed, although proof is still pending. The same applies to a possible connection, assumed in older literature, which could lead via Geislingen and through the Filstal towards the Neckar .
Research history
As early as 1821, the traces of the fort that were still visible in the area were described by Andreas Buchner . The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1886/87 by the Ulm Antiquities Association under the direction of O. von Arlt. The defensive wall, all corners of the camp, all gates and inside the fort the Principia and the Horreum were examined. These excavations were rounded off by the systematic investigations carried out by the Reich Limes Commission from March to May in 1904 .
The work of the Ulmer Verein and the Reich Limes Commission remained the only comprehensive and extensive excavations. Her publications, which appeared in 1889 and 1904, form the essential basis of knowledge about the Roman origins to this day.
The findings of the two excavations were supplemented when large parts of the vicus and the burial ground were built over in the second half of the 20th century and thus destroyed forever. During this time, however, there were no further systematic scientific investigations, only emergency and rescue excavations accompanied the construction work.
The identity of the Roman origin with the place Ad Lunam recorded on the Tabula Peutingeriana is considered probable, but has not yet been fully confirmed by the corresponding inscription finds. The name "Ad Lunam" is not derived from the Latin "Luna" (the moon), but refers to the Latinized form of the river name "Lone", which means something like "At the Lone".
Fort
The fort was probably built in the early Domitian period. It was on a slope that sloped sharply to the south. The relative gradient within the camp was 15%, the absolute height difference was an average of 20 m. With its sides of 135 m by 132.5 m including the fortifications, the fort took up an area of almost 1.8 hectares. With its Praetorial Front it was oriented to the south, towards the Lone Valley. Two construction periods, a wooden construction phase and a stone construction phase, could be proven, but not separated in time.
In its first construction phase, the wooden interior structures were fenced with a wood-earth wall, in front of which there was a single pointed ditch around 7.4 m wide and 2.9 m deep. Of the probably four gates, the south gate could not be proven, but its existence is highly probable due to the fact that it is the Porta praetoria (main gate) and the camp topography. The gates were each flanked by two wooden defense towers. There are no indications for corner and intermediate towers.
In the second construction phase, the wood-earth wall was reinforced by a four-gate stone wall with rounded corners. In front of the old wood-earth construction, which now served as a vallum (earth wall) behind the new reinforcement, a double wall made of white Jurassic limestone was placed. The old trench was reduced to a width of around 6 m and a maximum depth of 1.4 m through the new construction of the wall and an additional fastening of its inner slope. The wooden gate towers were also replaced by stone towers made of Jurassic limestone. Corner and intermediate towers could not be identified for this construction phase either.
A total of four buildings of the interior of the camp have been identified. Immediately to the east of the Principia (staff building), which the early excavators had called the "middle building" for lack of better knowledge, there was a horreum (granary), initially known as a "pillar building" . The function of the other two buildings has not been clarified. Apart from the massive stone Horreum, the other buildings were built using a combined stone and half-timbered technique.
With its sides of 31 m by 26 m, the Principia covers an area of around 800 m² including the inner courtyard. At its rear there are five rooms between 23.8 m and 28.3 m in size. The middle room jumps out about 15 cm from the northern front, suggesting an apse. It served as a sacellum (flag sanctuary, also called Aedes ). On the eastern and western sides of the Principia there were two elongated halls, in front of its southern front a roof structure that covered Via Principalis at this point and probably served as a roll call hall.
The construction of the horreum rested on 90 cm wide limestone foundations and was reinforced on three sides with four buttresses each, except on its southern front. The walls were provided with ventilation slots, the floor was hollow over a cellar, so that the grain stored in the Horreum was largely protected from moisture and rodents.
The function of a third building, referred to in older literature as the West Building, is not fully understood. As evidenced by the tubules (hollow bricks) found in it and a praefurnium (firing room ), it was provided with a hypocaust system. Possibly it served as a praetorium (commandant's residence), but a post-castel beneficiary station was also considered during the interpretation efforts. Finally, the fourth building, which was located between the “Westbau” and the Principia, is completely beyond archaeological interpretation.
Nothing is known about the occupation of the fort. Presumably it was used as accommodation for a Cohors quingenaria peditata , an infantry unit of around 500 men. The discovery of an iron spur could, however, also be an indication of a Cohors quingenaria equitata , a partially mounted, 500-man infantry force. The Roman military presence in Urspring is likely to have existed until the beginning of the second half of the first century AD. With the relocation of the Limes to the Lorch - Gunzenhausen - Abusina / Eining fort line , it will have lost its importance and been abandoned. It is believed that the original troops were moved to the Unterböbingen fort, which was built between 150 and 160 AD .
Vicus
The Vicus von Urspring, the civilian settlement to be found near every Roman military camp, in which members of the military, traders, craftsmen, innkeepers and other service providers settled, was located south of the camp, in the valley floor of the Lone. According to the concentration of finds, its core extended along the road leading to Faimingen over a length of about 350 m and a width of about 200 m. Isolated scatter and reading finds can also be found at a further distance. Overall, little is known about the vicus. Systematic area excavations did not take place, during the construction work that should ultimately lead to its destruction, only emergency and rescue excavations accompanying construction were carried out.
A larger building with a hypocaust system cut into the "Lonetalwiesen" corridor can probably be addressed as a fort bath. The only known burial ground in the village was discovered around 600 m southwest of the fort in the “Taläcker” corridor, at the foot of the “Hägelesberg”. A total of 82 cremation graves could be examined here, without the total extent of the field being even approximately recorded.
The civil settlement existed beyond the end of the fort. Between 150 and 175 AD, parts of the vicus were affected by a catastrophic fire, possibly in connection with the marcomanni incursions between 166 and 180 AD. It was rebuilt on a smaller scale and only came to an end during the internal and external political and economic crisis of the empire around the middle of the 3rd century ( Limesfall ).
Troop
Nothing is known about the occupation of the fort. Presumably it was used as accommodation for a Cohors quingenaria peditata , an infantry unit of around 500 men. The discovery of an iron spur could, however, also be an indication of a Cohors quingenaria equitata , a partially mounted, 500-man infantry force. The Roman military presence in Urspring is likely to have existed until the beginning of the second half of the first century AD. With the relocation of the Limes to the Lorch - Gunzenhausen - Abusina / Eining fort line , it will have lost its importance and been abandoned. It is believed that the Urspringen troops came to the Unterböbingen fort built between 150 and 160 AD in the course of the border shift . The stationed unit is also unknown there. Hans Ulrich Nuber speculated with the Cohors VI Lusitanorum , but this has not yet been proven.
Monument protection, preservation of findings and what is found
The ground monuments of the fort and the vicus of Urspring are protected as registered cultural monuments within the meaning of the Monument Protection Act of the State of Baden-Württemberg (DSchG) . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities. The fort is relatively protected under the agriculturally used areas north of the current village of Urspring. The area of the vicus is largely built over and destroyed. The finds were recorded in the magazines of the Württemberg State Museum in the Old Castle in Stuttgart .
See also
literature
- Philipp Filtzinger : Lonsee-Urspring. Cohort fort . In: Dieter Planck (Ed.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1555-3 , pp. 179ff.
- Philipp Filtzinger: Lonsee-Urspring. Cohort fort . In: Philipp Filtzinger, Dieter Planck and Bernhard Cämmerer (eds.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg. 3rd edition, Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0287-7 , p. 430ff.
- Jörg Heiligmann : The Urspring Castle, “Ad Lunam”, Lonsee community (Alb-Danube district) . In: Ders .: The "Alb Limes". A contribution to the history of the Roman occupation of southwest Germany. Theiss, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0814-X , p. 88ff.
- Friedrich Hertlein : The history of the occupation of the Roman Württemberg . (Friedrich Hertlein, Oscar Paret , Peter Goessler : The Romans in Württemberg. Part 1). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1928, pp. 40f., 43, 94, 98f.
- Friedrich Hertlein and Peter Goessler: The streets and fortifications of the Roman Württemberg . (Friedrich Hertlein, Oscar Paret, Peter Goessler: The Romans in Württemberg . Part 2). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1930, pp. 216f., 238, 240, 244f., 252, 254.
- Oscar Paret: The Settlements of Roman Wuerttemberg . (Friedrich Hertlein, Oscar Paret, Peter Goessler: The Romans in Württemberg. Part 3). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1932, pp. 23, 55, 184, 230f., 245, 253, 255, 387.
Excavation report of the Reich Limes Commission:
- E. Fabricius, Th. Drück, J. Jacobs, Friedrich Leonhard , Paul Wilski in the series Der Obergermanisch-Raetische Limes des Roemerreiches (Eds. Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey ): Department B, Volume 6, Fort No. 66a (1904).
Remarks
- ↑ a b The dating of the fort is controversial in the literature. While Filtzinger assumes the establishment of a fort "soon after the construction of the Rhein-Donau-Straße from Strasbourg / Argentorate and Rottweil / Arae Flaviae to Tuttlingen" , i.e. immediately after AD 74 (FPhilipp Filtzinger: Lonsee-Ursprunging. Kohortenkastell . In: Philipp Filtzinger, Dieter Planck and Bernhard Cämmerer (eds.): Die Römer in Baden-Württemberg. 3rd edition, Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0287-7 , p. 430 and Philipp Filtzinger: Lonsee-Ursprunging. Kohortenkastell . In: Dieter Planck (ed.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1555-3 , p. 179), Jörg Heiligmann: Das Kastell Urspring, "Ad Lunam", community Lonsee (Alb-Donau district) . In: Ders .: The "Alb Limes". A contribution to the history of the Roman occupation of southwest Germany. Theiss, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8062-0814-X , p. 101, his earliest dating approach to the reign of Titus (79-81) and does not rule out a Domitian or even early Trajan foundation.
- ^ Philipp Filtzinger: Lonsee-Urspring. Cohort fort . In: Dieter Planck (Ed.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg. Theiss, Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1555-3 , p. 179.
- ↑ ORL B, 1904, p. 27 f.
- ^ J. Andreas Buchner: Travels on the devil's wall. An investigation into the origin, location, direction and remnants of the Roman border walls against Germany . Book 2. Eggensperger, Regensburg 1821. P. 92 f.
- ↑ O. von Arlt: The Castrum at Urspring . In: Württembergische Vierteljahreshefte für Landesgeschichte, 12. S. 17 ff. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1889.
- ↑ a b Published in: Society for Pre- and Early History in Württemberg and Hohenzollern (Ed.): Find reports from Swabia. New set 16. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1962 and reports on finds from Swabia. New episode 18 / II. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1967, as well as in: Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (Hrsg. :) Find reports from Baden-Württemberg 2/1975 . Theiss, Stuttgart 1976 and find reports from Baden-Württemberg 5/1980 . Theiss, Stuttgart 1981.
- ↑ Hans Ulrich Nuber: Schwäbisch Gmünd in early historical times . In: History of the City of Schwäbisch Gmünd Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8062-0399-7 . P. 38.