Small fort Hienheim

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Small
fort Hienheim Wp 15/45
Alternative name Field guard Hienheim
limes ORL - ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Rhaetian Limes,
route 15
Dating (occupancy) left by 260 AD at the latest
Type Small fort
size approx. 16 × 16 m
(= around 250 m²)
Construction stone
State of preservation not visible
place Hienheim
Geographical location 48 ° 52 ′ 59.5 "  N , 11 ° 46 ′ 6"  E
height 376  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort on Hinteren Seeberg (northwest)
Subsequently Limes end on the banks of the Danube (east) Eining fort (south) Eining-Unterfeld vexillation camp ( south) Weltenburg-Galget small fort (north-east)
Backwards Fort Pförring (southwest)

The small fort Hienheim (also Feldwache Hienheim ) was a Roman fortification of the Rhaetian Limes , which in 2005 achieved the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site . The small fort is located around 50 meters south of the Roman border and was only discovered and documented in 1979 by aerial archeology . Today it is located in the parish of the parish village of Hienheim in the Kelheim district , Bavaria .

location

Hienheim is the last troop base located directly on the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes and, together with Eining Fort, forms its easternmost flank. Eining, the Roman Abusina , could have played an important role in the small fort. It is possible that Hienheim's guards were deployed from the Abusina cohort fort, only three kilometers to the south.

The small military station lies in a small depression that rises to the west, north and east. The land opens up towards the southeast and slopes down to the Danube, which is not far away. Towards the Limes and beyond, the depression created by geological erosion rises to the northwest to around 390 meters and tapers steadily in the process. The hills adjacent to them partly exceed a height of 430 meters. Due to the hilly landscape developing in this area of ​​the Limes towards the Barbaricum , a distant view of the foreland of the border installations was not possible for the soldiers of Hienheim. And the view to the west was also severely restricted, as the Limes coming from there was brought down from a height of around 400 meters into the depression of the small fort at around 376 meters. The course of the Limes could only be traced further to the east, since the terrain here was much flatter and less. Due to these restrictions, Hienheim's soldiers were only able to monitor the nearby Limes over a length of around 700 meters. There was a line of sight to the nearest watchtowers Wp 15/44 and Wp 15/46. Digital terrain models show that with an assumed defense wall height of five meters in Hienheim, the Abusina fort was not visible - contrary to older assumptions. Hienheim has thus not assumed a function as a signal station between Limes and Abusina. Apparently, the enemy should only be shown Roman presence at this point and, in the event of a limited attack, it should be possible to stop at least until the units from Abusina arrive.

Research history

Hienheim with the course of the Limes according to the scientific studies of 2007 and 2012.
The small fort at the rear of the Schloßbuck, which is obviously very similar .

As early as the 1930s, employees of the Imperial Limes Commission speculated about a possible Roman guard post that could have been in this area - around two kilometers from the village of Hienheim. This assumption was caused by the unusually long distance between the two watchtowers Wp 15/44 and Wp 15/46, which was 1210 meters. Attempts to find this sentry failed at the time. It was not until 1975 that a wall structure ten meters long came out of the ground around 50 meters south of the Limes while plowing an agricultural area. In 1979 the clearly visible foundations and the trench were first recorded by aerial photo archeology and subsequently documented again and again. Before the introduction of digital technology and the rectification of aerial photos, however, Hienheim was misinterpreted as a watchtower (Wp 15/45). In the run-up to a first geophysical prospecting , scheduled in 2007 , an aerial photograph rectification took place, which first gave rise to the idea of ​​a small fort. With the resistance measurement and magnetometer prospecting carried out in 2007, the most basic data on the appearance of this fastening were then available. Nevertheless, after evaluating the collected data, there was still a lot of room for interpretation. Therefore, a further investigation with ground penetrating radar took place in spring 2012 . It could be documented that the findings still preserved were at a depth between 0.40 and 1.10 meters. Since the small fort is now on land that is used intensively for agriculture, its existence is acutely threatened. This was also confirmed by the electromagnetic field inspection in 2012. Above a depth of 0.40 meters, the radar images only showed plied wall rubble, which also came to light on the surface in the form of limestone lumps. A classic excavation has not yet taken place at this location.

Building history

Along with the towers, small forts were one of the main bases of the Roman troops directly behind the Limes. Hienheim's almost square weir system encompasses 16 × 16 meters. With its four-walled wall, it is oriented precisely to the cardinal points. Your Praetorial Front , the side of the camp facing the enemy, is oriented to the north, towards the border. There was the only entrance. The surrounding wall is one meter thick. Thus the usable area within the small fort is 225 square meters. As an obstacle to the approach, the small fort in front of the berm had a singular ditch with a width of one meter that exposed in front of the gate. However, this was only excavated on the Praetorial Front and on the western and eastern flanks. On the Dekuman side, the rear, southern side of the camp, no ditch can be seen, which allows for different interpretations. The measurements from 2012 showed that the defensive wall - in contrast to the moat - did not have rounded corners. With the exception of the massive defensive wall, all the buildings inside were constructed from wood; however, their structures cannot be clearly identified without excavation. It becomes clear, however, that the inner buildings leaning against the defensive wall are grouped around a rectangular inner courtyard in a square open to the gate, as has been proven in other, archaeologically excavated small forts.

Limes course from the small fort Hienheim to the banks of the Danube

The location of Wp 15/46 and Wp 15/47

To the north of Hienheim, the Roman border runs from Wp 15/46 to Wp 15/47. Shortly afterwards the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes reaches the Danube and with it its end. The subsequent borderline belongs to the Danube Limes. This Limes, which existed until late antiquity, followed the southern bank of the river to the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) after the withdrawal from the Dacian provinces in 271 . The landscape south of the small fort is characterized by a gentle, partly wooded height that slopes down to the Danube (Danuvius) and is characterized by partly swampy floodplains. The height reaches just over 380 meters, the Danube is around 342 meters. The debris wall of the Limes is poorly preserved in this section. On its descent into the Danube lowlands according to Wp 15/46 it runs out flat and disappears. The expansion measures for the Limes began during the second half of the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138) with the construction of wooden watchtowers. A wooden palisade was built around 165. In the course of this expansion or some time later, the stone towers were built, which were connected to the Limes wall around 205. This is shown by dendrochronological studies on the wooden substructure of the Rhaetian Wall north of the Dambach fort .

ORL Name / place Description / condition
KK Small fort Hienheim = Wp 15/45 see above
Wp 15/46
Wp 15/46
Since Wp 15/34 the Limes has been sloping slightly to the southeast in an easterly direction. A slight kink can be seen in the remains of the 4.5 × 4.8 meter stone tower Wp 15/46, which can hardly be seen today. From there, the Rhaetian Wall was measured almost exactly on a west-east axis. As the Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK) was able to determine, the tower stood with its front in a northerly direction. The Limes wall was subsequently added to its northwestern and northeastern corners. About five meters west of the stone tower was the older wooden tower hill, which is cut through almost in the middle by the Limes wall. At Wp 15/46 an observation tower was erected in a rustic block construction, but it has little in common with the wooden watchtowers that once stood on the Upper German-Raetian Limes. From Wp 15/46 there was a line of sight to the watchtower located to the south on the Weinsberg on the right bank of the Danube and from there to Eining Fort.
"Hadrian's Column" To commemorate the nearby Limes end and the Roman emperors Trajan , Hadrian and Probus , who according to the doctrine of the time should have built the Limes, the Bavarian King Maximilian II had a memorial stone placed in 1861.
Wp 15/47
Wp 15/47 after the excavations of the RLK
The stone tower known from research and almost completely removed when it was discovered can no longer be seen today. From Wp 15/47 there was also a line of sight to the watchtower on the Weinsberg.
Limes end northern bank of the Danube
The Limes Wall at its end
The RLK was able to determine the end point of the Limes wall. It became clear that it was approaching the bank of the Danube in the form of a close-knit pile of posts.

Monument protection

The small fort in Hienheim and the facilities mentioned are protected as registered ground monuments 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

  • Jörg Faßbinder : New results of the geophysical prospection at the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes . In: Andreas Thiel (Ed.): Neue Forschungen am Limes , Volume 3, Theiss, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8062-2251-7 , pp. 155-171, in particular pp. 169 f.
  • Jörg Faßbinder, Karin Berghausen, Tomasz Gorka: Geophysical prospecting on the Raetian Limes: border fortifications, watchtowers and field watch. In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2007 , Stuttgart 2008, pp. 89–81; here: p. 81.
  • Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: Egon Schallmayer (Ed.): Limes Imperii Romani. Contributions to the specialist colloquium “Limes World Heritage Site” in November 2001 in Lich-Arnsburg. Bad Homburg v. d. H. 2004, ISBN 3-931267-05-9 , pp. 75-92 (=  Saalburg-Schriften , 6).
  • Robert Linck, Jörg Faßbinder: Radar prospection, ALS and conductivity measurement: News about the Roman field watch near Hienheim. City of Neuburg a. d. Danube, Kelheim district, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2012 , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 83–85.
  • Karl von Popp : Hienheim (excavations on the Limes). In: Limesblatt: Notices from the route commissioners to the Reichslimeskommission. Supplement to the correspondence sheet of the West German journal for history and art. 6 (1893). No. 59 (October 1893), pp. 189-192.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Robert Linck, Jörg Faßbinder : Radar prospection, ALS and conductivity measurement: News about the Roman field watch near Hienheim. City of Neuburg a. d. Danube, Kelheim district, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2012 , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 83–85; here: p. 85.
  2. ↑ a b Robert Linck, Jörg Faßbinder: Radar prospection, ALS and conductivity measurement: News about the Roman field watch near Hienheim. City of Neuburg a. d. Danube, Kelheim district, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2012 , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 83–85; here: p. 83.
  3. ↑ Jörg Faßbinder: New results of the geophysical prospection on the Upper German-Raetian Limes . In: Andreas Thiel (Ed.): Neue Forschungen am Limes , Volume 3, Theiss, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8062-2251-7 , p. 169.
  4. ↑ a b Robert Linck, Jörg Faßbinder: Radar prospection, ALS and conductivity measurement: News about the Roman field watch near Hienheim. City of Neuburg a. d. Danube, Kelheim district, Lower Bavaria . In: The archaeological year in Bavaria 2012 , Stuttgart 2013, pp. 83–85; here: p. 84.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Czysz , Frank Herzig: New dendrodata from the Limes Palisade in Raetia . In: Andreas Thiel (ed.): New research on the Limes . Volume 3, Theiss, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8062-2251-7 , pp. 183-194; Wolfgang Czysz, Lothar Bakker: The Romans in Bavaria . Theiss, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-8062-1058-6 , p. 123.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Czysz, Franz Herzig: The pile grid in the Kreutweiher near the Limes fort Dambach. First dendrochronological results. In: Report of the Bavarian Monument Preservation , trade journal of the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, Volume 49, Habelt, Bonn 2008, ISBN 978-3-7749-3609-6 . Pp. 221-226.
  8. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  9. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  10. ↑ Wp East 15/46 at 48 ° 53 '0.22 "  N , 11 ° 46' 32.17"  O .
  11. ↑ Wp West 15/46 at 48 ° 53 '0.5 "  N , 11 ° 46' 31.21"  O .
  12. ↑ Wp 15/46 observation tower at 48 ° 53 ′ 0.74 ″  N , 11 ° 46 ′ 25.19 ″  E
  13. ↑ Thomas Fischer , Erika Riedmeier-Fischer: The Roman Limes in Bavaria. History and locations along the UNESCO World Heritage Site . Pustet, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7917-2120-0 , p. 157.
  14. ↑ Adrian column at 48 ° 53 '0.2 "  N , 11 ° 46' 37.9"  O .
  15. ↑ Wp 15/47 at 48 ° 53 '0.4 "  N , 11 ° 46' 51.68"  O .
  16. ↑ Limes end at approximately 48 ° 53 '0.15 "  N , 11 ° 47' 5"  O .