Kochendorf small fort

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Kochendorf small fort
limes ORL - ( RLK )
Route (RLK) ORL route 10
Neckar-Odenwald-Limes
Odenwald line
Dating (occupancy) Castle: until the middle of the 2nd century.
Vicus: until the middle of the 3rd century.
Type Small fort
unit unknown vexillatio in centurial strength
size 48 × 48 m = 0.2 ha
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation Ground monument
place Bad Friedrichshall - Kochendorf
Geographical location 49 ° 13 ′ 32.5 "  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 31.2"  E
height 175  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Duttenberg (northwest)
Subsequently ORL 54/55 Fort Wimpfen im Tal (?) (West; Neckar line of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes)
ORL 56 Fort Böckingen (south; Neckar line)

The small fort Kochendorf was a Roman fortification on the older Odenwald line of the Neckar-Odenwald-Limes . The military camp was located in the Kochendorf district of the city of Bad Friedrichshall in what is now the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg .

Location and research history

Today's ground monument is located on an agricultural open space on Lindenberg, around 500 m above sea level from the Kochendorfer Sebastianskirche, immediately north of Neuenstadter Strasse. The area of ​​the vicus connects to the north between the fort and Kocher and to the east. The grave fields are located on a road leading to the south, today's Oststraße or today's Remmelsweg . The direct distance from the fort is 1.5 km to the Neckar , where a river is suspected, and 1.7 km to the mouth of the Kocher.

This place first attracted attention through the discovery of a denarius of Vespasian in 1979 as well as other reading finds, including numerous datable sigillates in 1985. It was then regularly monitored from aerial archaeological purposes until the aerial archaeologist Otto Braasch was able to prove the fort beyond doubt on May 31, 1990 . The cemetery in the Teufelsäcker corridor was located by Hans Riexinger in 1961 .

The fort area of ​​Kochendorf has so far been spared from encroachments on the ground and has not been archaeologically excavated. It is designated and protected as an archaeological reserve.

Fort

The stone fort had a square floor plan (with rounded corners) with a side length of 48 m. It had two gates facing east towards the Limes and west towards the Neckar. The gate openings were flanked inside the fort by two retracted gate cheeks. A growth feature that runs parallel to the defensive wall in places indicates a defensive ditch in front of it, which was filled after the abandonment of the fort. With its ground plan, the small fortification of Kochendorf corresponds to the small fortifications Trienz , Haselburg , Hönehaus and Rinschheim . Of the interior development, only individual postings and sections of the wall can be seen in the aerial photo , which do not allow any reliable information about the interior structure of the camp.

The crew probably consisted of a vexillation the strength of a centurion , which was possibly under the cohort in Bad Wimpfen and whose task could have been to monitor the Kocher estuary. With the advancement of the Limes to the east, the small fort Kochendorf was also given up.

The significance of the discovery of the Kochendorfer fort lies in the fact that with it and in connection with the watchtowers south-east of the fort area, which were discovered in 1962 and 1964, evidence of the extension of the Odenwald Limes beyond the Jagst to the south was provided.

Vicus and burial ground

The fort vicus, the civilian settlement that can be found in almost every Roman garrison, was connected to the fort in the north and east and could be detected there to a depth of 100 m. There, charred remains of half-timbered buildings, smelter clay , cellar or rubbish pits, rubble from the walls and numerous fragments of pottery were found. According to the finds, the vicus already existed in the first half of the 1st century and lasted until the middle of the third century after the fort was closed.

The burial ground of the fort and the vicus stretched along the Oststraße in the Teufelsäcker corridor . A total of 22 cremation graves were uncovered here between 1961 and 1988, some of which had already been destroyed. The grave find of a Dupondius of Philip Arabs (244–249) can serve as a possible term post quem at the end of the settlement of the vicus . The area of ​​the grave sites is now largely built over by a residential building.

Limes course south of the small fort Kochendorf

As early as 1962 and 1964, the remains of two Limes watchtowers were exposed southeast of the fort. In both cases it was a stone tower. In the consecutive numbering they were assigned to the Odenwald line and designated accordingly with Wp 10/80 and 10/81. Should further watchtowers be found on the eastern side of the Neckar in the future, it would be conceivable that the towers will be integrated into the Neckar line, and consequently be designated with Wp 11/1, 11/2 etc.

Traces of the Limes structures south of Kochendorf.
ORL Name / place Description / condition
KK Kochendorf small fort see above
Wp 10/80 "Riedäcker" The first tower, discovered in 1962, was in Flur Ried, about 1.4 km east of the town center, on an agricultural area. Traces of vegetation on a building with a square floor plan were found there. The following excavation brought a tower foundation with a side length of 5.40 m to the surface. The width of the foundation wall was 85 cm. The foundation pit itself was 90 cm wide and 80 cm deep in the ground. The few accompanying finds also included fragments of mortar and plastering.
Wp 10/81 "Plates" The second tower, excavated in 1964, was in the Platten floor , about 2.1 km SE of the town center on a grain field. The excavation revealed a square stone tower foundation with a side length of 8.2 m, which had already been severely destroyed by plowing activities. The wall consisted of shell masonry, its thickness was about 1.5 m.

In 1991 the tower was examined again by Jörg Biel . It was found that the stone tower was surrounded by a square trench with a side length of eleven meters and a depth of only 20 cm. On its eastern side the trench was interrupted over a width of one meter.

Furthermore, a wooden tower could be located north of the stone tower. Its corner posts stood in a square arrangement with a side length of 5.5 m. The wooden tower was surrounded by a 15.50 m diameter circular moat, 0.6 m to 1.5 m wide and up to 0.6 m deep. In some places, the trench was filled with fire debris, which indicates that the wooden tower burned down at least once. A simple fireplace was located just outside the trench.

The southern end of the Limes is currently completely unexplained.

Monument protection

The ground monument "Kleinkastell Kochendorf" is protected as a registered cultural monument 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.

See also

literature

  • Dietwulf Baatz : The Roman Limes. Archaeological excursions between the Rhine and the Danube. 4th edition. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 206.
  • Otto Braasch : New results of flight prospecting . In: Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (Ed.): Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 1990 . Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-8062-0872-7 , pp. 303-315, especially pp. 313-315.
  • Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X ( research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg. Volume 78), pp. 35–38 and 188–193 as well as plates 9–16.
  • Dieter Planck : Roman fort Kochendorf . In: Dieter Planck u. a. (Ed.): Underground Baden-Württemberg. 250,000 years of history and archeology in the air . Theiss, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8062-0497-7 , pp. 158f.
  • Egon Schallmayer : The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 152-154.
  • Egon Schallmayer (Ed.): The Odenwald Limes. Latest research results. Contributions to the scientific colloquium on March 19, 2010 in Michelstadt . Saalburgmuseum, Bad Homburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-931267-07-0 (Saalburg-Schriften, 8).
  • Andreas Thiel : Bad Friedrichshall Kochendorf. Small fort with vicus and burial ground . In: Dieter Planck (Ed.): The Romans in Baden-Württemberg . Theiss, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8062-1555-3 , pp. 20f.

Remarks

  1. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 35.
  2. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), pp. 188f.
  3. ^ Otto Braasch: New results of the flight prospecting . In: Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (Ed.): Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 1990 . Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-8062-0872-7 , pp. 313-315.
  4. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 37f.
  5. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 188.
  6. ^ A b Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 152f.
  7. ^ A b Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 37.
  8. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 192f.
  9. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), pp. 37 and 189.
  10. ^ Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 37f. and p. 189ff.
  11. Egon Schallmayer : The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 152-154.
  12. ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  13. KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  14. 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.
  15. ^ A b Clauss-Michael Hüssen: The Roman settlement in the area around Heilbronn . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1493-X (research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, 78), p. 193.
  16. ^ In: Find reports from Swabia . New episode 18/2. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 1967, p. 88.
  17. Egon Schallmayer: The Odenwald Limes. Along the Roman border between the Main and Neckar. Theiss, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2309-5 , pp. 153f.
  18. Brief review on the website of the Library Service Center Baden-Württemberg (BSZ).