Wesel-Büderich fort

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Wesel-Büderich fort
limes Lower Germanic Limes
Dating (occupancy) Claudian - Neronian until the second half of the 2nd century
Type Auxiliary fort
unit unknown (partially mounted?) cohort or vexillatio
State of preservation invisible ground monument
place Wesel - Büderich
Geographical location 51 ° 38 '18 "  N , 6 ° 34' 50"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 38 '18 "  N , 6 ° 34' 50"  E
height 23  m above sea level NHN
Previous Vetera (west)
Subsequently Alpen-Drüpt Castle (south)

The Wesel-Büderich fort was a Roman auxiliary fort in the Lower Germanic Limes . The former military camp was in the area of Büderich , a district on the left bank of the Rhine in the North Rhine-Westphalian city ​​of Wesel .

Location and research history

The lost site of the former military camp located south of the medieval, in 1813 leveled the city devastation Alt-Büderich and northwest of the present-day village of Büderich. The garrison was there on a 250 m by 250 m measuring, "Steinacker", flood-free hill on the floodplain terrace of the left bank of the Rhine directly opposite the point where the Lippe flowed into the Rhine in ancient times . In today's settlement and traffic geographic area, the ground monument is on “Perricher Weg”, south of “Xantener Straße” (L 460).

As early as the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, the first reports about Roman finds on Büderich's “Steinacker” appeared in the Bonn yearbooks . But even if a relatively large number of militaria were recovered in the process, as well as by Theodor Bergmann, Catholic priest and local history researcher of the place from 1920 to 1954 , the site was only assigned purely civil functions for a long time. It was only through two publications by Ursula Maier-Weber in 1991 and 1992 that the military character of the square became apparent. Systematic excavations were required between 2008 and 2010 in connection with the construction of a bypass. They corroborated the previous assumptions that the "Steinäcker" corridor was the former location of a Roman auxiliary fort.

Finds, dating and findings

Among the total of thousands of Roman finds, the militaria were particularly striking. Twelve lance tips, nine arrow and bolt tips, three pilum tips and three daggers ( pugio ) were recovered from attack weapons , as well as six lance shoes and a dagger sheath. The cheek flaps of a helmet, several hinges from armored rails, the breast hook of a chain mail, three shield bosses and some shield edge fittings were added to the protective weapons . Such an accumulation of military finds on a relatively small area is atypical for a civilian settlement and rather speaks for a military location. The unit stationed there could have been a Cohors ( cohort ), a Cohors equitata (partially mounted cohort) or the comparable strong and similarly structured vexillatio of a legion .

An above-average number of the coin finds date from the time of Claudius (41–54) and Vespasian (69–79). A small Jupiter altar from the area originally dates to the first century and was given a new inscription at the end of the second century. A preliminary evaluation of a total of 352 sigillates (including 56 sherds decorated in relief) showed that the earliest sherds are of Claudian origin, the latest from the last quarter of the second century. An argument against the existence of the garrison in the third and fourth centuries is that it is neither recorded in the Tabula Peutingeriana nor in the Itinerarium Antonini . Overall, it can therefore be assumed at the present time of an occupancy from the Claudian-Neronian period up to the second half of the second century, possibly with an interruption at the beginning of the second century.

Only a few findings of the structures of the former military camp and an assumed civilian camp village ( vicus ) have so far been uncovered, including garbage pits, post holes , a group of eight kilns in one building and the foundation embroidery or rolling of a paved path.

Monument protection

The Wesel-Büderich fort is a ground monument under the law for the protection and maintenance of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Monument Protection Act - DSchG) . Research and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval. Incidental finds are to be reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

  • Clive Bridger : More details on the dating of the auxiliary camp of Wesel-Büderich, Wesel district, with special attention to the terra sigillata . In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 49-55 (= contributions to the Limes World Heritage Site, 5).
  • Ursula Maier-Weber : A Roman military camp near Wesel-Büderich . In: Yearbook of the Wesel District 1993 . Boss, Kleve 1992, ISBN 3-89413-053-9 , ISSN  0939-2041 pp. 197-202.
  • Ursula Maier-Weber: Wesel in Roman times . In: Jutta Prieur: History of the City of Wesel 1 . Patmos, Düsseldorf 1991, ISBN 3-491-34229-5 , pp. 55-76.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The complete find material is to be published by Ursula Maier-Weber in the Bonner Jahrbücher at a later date .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bonner Jahrbücher (BJb) 31, 1861, pp. 102-103 and BJb 36, 1864, p. 80.
  2. ↑ BJb 138, 1933, p. 173, BJb 139, 1934, p. 204 and BJb 146, 1941, p. 219.
  3. ↑ Ursula Maier-Weber: Wesel in Roman times . In: Jutta Prieur: History of the City of Wesel 1 . Patmos, Düsseldorf 1991, ISBN 3-491-34229-5 , pp. 55-76.
  4. ↑ Ursula Maier-Weber: A Roman military camp near Wesel-Büderich . In: Yearbook of the Wesel District 1993 , Boss, Kleve 1992, pp. 197–202.
  5. ↑ a b c Clive Bridger: More details on the dating of the auxiliary camp of Wesel-Büderich, Wesel district, with special consideration of the terra sigillata . In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , pp. 49-55 (= contributions to the Limes World Heritage Site, 5).
  6. ↑ Clive Bridger: More details on the dating of the auxiliary camp of Wesel-Büderich, Wesel district, with special consideration of the terra sigillata . In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , p. 50 (= contributions to the Limes World Heritage Site, 5).
  7. ↑ CIL 13, 8605
  8. ↑ Clive Bridger: More details on the dating of the auxiliary camp of Wesel-Büderich, Wesel district, with special consideration of the terra sigillata . In: Peter Henrich (Ed.): Perspektiven der Limesforschung. 5th colloquium of the German Limes Commission . Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2465-8 , p. 52 (= contributions to the Limes World Heritage, 5).
  9. ↑ Definition of terms
  10. ↑ Law for the protection and care of monuments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Monument Protection Act - DSchG) ( Memento of July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )