Small fort Burlafingen

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Small fort Burlafingen
limes ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Rhaetian Limes , Danube line
Dating (occupancy) around 40 AD
to 50 AD
Type Small fort
unit possibly auxiliary vexillation
size approx. 41 m × 42 m
Construction Wood earth
State of preservation no longer visible on the ground
place Burlafingen
Geographical location 48 ° 25 '10.2 "  N , 10 ° 3' 34.9"  E
height 462  m above sea level NHN
Previous Unterkirchberg fort (southwest)
Subsequently Small fort Nersingen (northeast)

The small fort Burlafingen is a Roman fortification of the Tiberian-Claudian Danube line , an early Roman border fortification along the Danube . The small system, of which nothing is left above the ground, is located in the Neu-Ulm district of Burlafingen in the Swabian district of Neu-Ulm , Bavaria.

Location and research history

Overview of the excavation at the small fort

The Roman camp of Burlafingen was at risk of flooding on the once heavily meandering south bank of the Danube , which was difficult to monitor, and was responsible for the border control and the construction of a section of the “wet Limes ” along the Danube for a relatively short time . In Roman times, the alluvial forests on the bank areas in the Ulm area were predominantly made of oak and red beech. From a gravel pit between Burlafingen and Thalfingen , a four to five meter long oak trunk with root stock was recovered in the middle of the 20th century, which had felling notches from Roman times, as a radiocarbon dating carried out at that time showed. It was assumed that the Roman planners accepted the problematic proximity of the garrison to the river in order to be able to use the river for their purposes as a transport and traffic route. Perhaps an archaeologically unproven ship landing on a branch of the Danube was connected to the military station. The ancient Donausüdstraße is around four kilometers south.

Not until 1977 through aerial archeology , the fort was excavated by the archaeologist Michael Mackensen in the summer of 1984 on behalf of the commission for the archaeological research of the late Roman Raetia.

Building history

The archaeologists were able to measure the almost square, pure wood-earth system with a side length of around 41 m × 42 m. Mackensen assumed that the ancient geometers had set out the fort in the middle of the outer moat. However, due to heavy erosion in the area, the entire dimensional relationship could only be determined approximately during the excavation. The corners of the bearing are rounded. In front of the fortification there were two pointed trenches, with the excavation of which the wall forming the defense was heaped up. This was designed as a sod wall with rear wall reinforcement. The trenches ceased in front of the only single-lane driveway in the southeast. A simple, single-period gate system secured the passage. During the excavation, the post holes of further towers were made in the earth wall. Four of them were in the corners, the other three were in between. The approximate wall width resulted from the depth of the driveway, which was a maximum of 4.8 meters. Mackensen assumed 67–70 degrees for the outer slope of the wall. Since no traces of interior development were found, the crew may have lived in tents. One of the few findings inside the fort testifies to a probable blacksmith's diner, which shows parallels to the small fort in Nersingen . This tiny fortification was created at the same time as Burlafingen. Both structures are often related to each other, even if the small fort Burlafingen existed much shorter than the fortification of Nersingen, which is located a little further to the east, because the garrison was cleared again after around ten years.

Troop

Mackensen is according to the findings of a coming from the eastern provinces Auxiliar - vexillation out. A find that possibly belonged to the time when Nersingen and Burlafingen were formed was the legionnaire's helmet of the Hagenau type that came out of the ground in a gravel pit near Burlafingen at the beginning of 1959 and was only missing the cheek flaps and the crest holder. This gravel pit was in the immediate vicinity of the small fort Burlafingen. On the broad neck shield, in addition to two different owner names - P. Aurelius and M. Munatius - the Legio XVI Gallica is also mentioned. Marcus Junkelmann describes the Hagenau helmets as typical of the first half of the 1st century AD.However, a direct connection between this headgear and construction activity on the Tiberian-Claudian Danube line cannot be established without difficulties, among other things because the legion mentioned in During this period it was not stationed in Raetia, but had its headquarters in Mogontiacum (Mainz) until 43 AD , before it was relocated to Novaesium (Neuss). However, since the Legion could have been stationed in Raetia shortly before the birth of Christ, it would be possible that the Burlafinger helmet came to the Danube at that time.

Important finds

Among the few mostly fragmentary small finds were sling stones and three-bladed arrowheads. A total of 23 metal objects (a fibula, three military objects) and 43 ceramic shards were recovered. Mackensen especially mentions a mortar with a sloping rim, as it also occurred in the forts Aislingen and Nersingen, which were counted in the early phase of the Danube Limes. Such a piece is also known from the Weltenburger Frauenberg . These findings make a dating to the time of Emperor Claudius (41 to 54 AD) seem very possible.

Lost property

The finds recovered in Nersingen were transferred to the State Archaeological Collection in Munich .

Monument protection

The small fort Burlafingen is protected as a registered ground monument within the meaning of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act (BayDSchG). Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to authorization, accidental finds must be reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Kurt Wehrberger: Find spot gravel pit. Discoveries of water from the Upper Danube and its tributaries. In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Hrsg.): Abgetaucht, aufgetaucht - river finds. From history. With their story. Exhibition catalog. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Trier 2001, ISBN 3-923319-48-7 , p. 49.
  2. ↑ Kurt Wehrberger: Find spot gravel pit. Discoveries of water from the Upper Danube and its tributaries. In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Hrsg.): Abgetaucht, aufgetaucht - river finds. From history. With their story. Exhibition catalog. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Trier 2001, ISBN 3-923319-48-7 , p. 56.
  3. ↑ Michael Mackensen. In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg , Volume 14. Konrad Theiß Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, p. 701.
  4. ↑ Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier-Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 3791721208 , p. 169.
  5. ↑ a b Michael Mackensen. In: Find reports from Baden-Württemberg , Volume 14. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, p. 703.
  6. ↑ Michael Mackensen, Angela von den Driesch: Early imperial small fort near Nersingen and Burlafingen on the upper Danube. CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3406317499 , p. 90.
  7. ↑ Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Abgetaucht, aufgetaucht - river finds. From history. With their story. Exhibition catalog. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Trier 2001, ISBN 3-923319-48-7 , p. 56; Fig. 57.
  8. ^ Marcus Junkelmann: The Legions of Augustus , Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0886-8 , p. 172.
  9. ^ A b Thomas Fischer, Erika Riedmeier-Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 3791721208 , p. 170.
  10. ↑ Michael Mackensen. In: Bonner Jahrbücher . Volume 191. Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1991, p. 830.
  11. ↑ Michael Mackensen, Angela von den Driesch: Early imperial small fort near Nersingen and Burlafingen on the upper Danube . CH Beck, Munich 1987, ISBN 3406317499 , p. 154.