Small fort Allmendfeld

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Small fort Allmendfeld
limes ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes
Dating (occupancy) 2nd half of the 1st century AD
to the end of the 2nd century AD
Type Small fort
size 57 × 48.5 m
Construction Wood earth
place Gernsheim - Allmendfeld - Bickenbach
Geographical location 49 ° 46 ′ 13 ″  N , 8 ° 34 ′ 0 ″  E hf
Idealized floor plan of the small fort Allmendfeld

The small fort Allmendfeld was a small Roman fort in the rear area of ​​the Upper German Limes . His remains are in the marshland of an old Neckar loop , lying on Bickenbacher district, near Gernsheim - Allmendfeld , Groß-Gerau district in the Hessian Ried near Darmstadt . Comparable with the Wagbach fort, it is also located off the line of the Limes fort in the hinterland and dates to the second half of the 1st century AD. The Roman road from Gernsheim to Dieburg ran through the small fort .

Research history

In 1934, the Bickenbach swamp bridge was discovered in the "Schiffslache" Gewann during the construction of drainage ditches by the Reich Labor Service (RAD) in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district near Bickenbach . The bridge was part of the road from Gernsheim to Dieburg in Roman times and was abandoned towards the end of the 2nd century AD and replaced by a road embankment. She led the archaeologists to another Roman site on the eastern edge of the swamp.

Aerial photographs by Peter Groß, a volunteer from the Hessian monument preservation department, from 1999 clearly show the structures of a small fort. In order to confirm the aerial photos, a geophysical prospecting was carried out in February 2001 , which produced a detailed system with two ditches and buildings.

Roman fortifications of this kind were not known in the Hessian Ried far away from the Limes, so that a full excavation was decided, which was carried out from May 12 to August 17, 2001 by the Darmstadt branch of the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse .

construction

The small fort measures 57 × 48.5 meters outside and encloses an interior 38 × 30 meters. It is surrounded by two circular trenches around five meters wide, which are interrupted on the west and east side. These culverts were 3.5 meters wide in the west and 5.0 meters in the east. They are interpreted as camp gates. Postings in the area of ​​the passages indicate a wooden gate system. The fence probably consisted of a turf wall, which has not yet been proven archaeologically.

Interior development

During the excavations in 2001, the imprints and depressions of wooden construction elements preserved in the ground were uncovered (wall trenches). This finding enabled the archaeologists to identify two crew barracks, each 24.5 meters long, which were divided into a total of seven rooms, each with six contubernia and a smaller vestibule.

The individual contubernia were also divided into an 11.5 square meter bedroom and a 3.5 square meter anteroom. The strength of the crew can be inferred from the number of contubernia. Assuming eight soldiers per Contubernium, the result is a crew of 96 soldiers plus officers for this location.

The southern barrack shows signs of post-military use. This also includes fountains, some of which overlay the fort findings. The oak wood from the well boxes was dated to the years 125–130 AD. This finding is interpreted by the editors to the effect that a civil subsequent use, for example through a villa rustica , has taken place. Finds of a hypocaust facility in the bath also belong in the context of civil use .

Dating

The location, structure and excavation results suggest that the small fort was built in the Domitian era and was abandoned during the transfer of troops under Trajan . It was converted into a civilian villa rustica before the middle of the 2nd century. Dating back to Domitian's time, the Allmendfeld camp is the earliest known small fort in Upper Germany.

function

The installation is around 35 kilometers in the hinterland of the Upper Germanic Limes. The road from Gernsheim to Dieburg led through the camp, beginning in Stockstadt am Limes and passing through a swamp near Gernsheim. The Bickenbach swamp bridge ends immediately in front of the camp . Based on this finding, the camp is interpreted as a street fort. The proximity to the Gernsheim fort at the same time suggests a connection.

Monument protection

The small fort Allmendfeld is a ground monument 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.

literature

  • Werner Geyer et al .: The Roman swamp bridge near Bickenbach (Darmstadt district). In: Saalburg-Jahrbuch 34, 1977, pp. 29–41.
  • Holger Göldner: It's scary to walk across the moor. Investigations on a Roman camp between Allmendfeld (Groß-Gerau district) and Bickenbach (Darmstadt-Dieburg district) in the Hessian Ried. In: Hessen-Archäologie 2001, pp. 82–85.
  • Holger Göldner, Alexander Heising: small fort and ship landing. Investigations on Roman military installations in the Hessian Ried. In: Der Odenwald 53, Heft 4, 2006, pp. 131–148.
  • Egon Schallmayer : Gernsheim GG. In: Dietwulf Baatz , Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann (Hrsg.): The Romans in Hessen. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0599-X , p. 315f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Göldner 2002, p. 85.