Small fort Rötelsee

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Small fort Rötelsee
limes ORL Wp 9/128 ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes
Vorderer Limes, route 9
Dating (occupancy) late 2nd century AD (or 233 AD?)
to around 259/260 AD
Type Small fort
unit unknown
size 18.5 × 18.5 m
(= 0.032 ha)
Construction stone
State of preservation Wall stumps preserved; Interior construction indicated with concrete slabs; Trench prepared
place Welzheim
Geographical location 48 ° 53 '11.6 "  N , 9 ° 38' 2.1"  E
height 517  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort Ebnisee (north)
Subsequently Forts of Welzheim (south)

The small fort Rötelsee was a Roman fortification of the Upper German Limes , which in 2005 achieved the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site . The small fort was built near the Roman border and is now located in the Welzheim district , a town in the Rems-Murr district in Baden-Württemberg . Rötelsee has entered the typology of provincial Roman research. The name is used today on all similarly structured systems on the Roman imperial border. The discovery of coins from the time of Emperor Gallienus (253–260), which put the downfall of the fortification in the late period of the Limes Falls , was also outstanding .

Location and research history

The small fort, built on a hill around 1.5 kilometers north of the west fort of Welzheim, is located on an 80 kilometer stretch of the Limes that runs almost exactly in a north-south direction. The Reichs-Limeskommission (RLK) under Gustav Sixt (1856–1904) examined the defensive walls of the fortification in the Ländlesäcker corridor , which was built around 40 meters behind the Roman border fortifications. But it was not until the excavation of the Baden-Württemberg State Monuments Office in autumn 1974, carried out as part of the land consolidation and under the direction of the archaeologist Dieter Planck , that the floor plan of this small stone fortification was completely clear. The smallest form of this variant of a border garrison was examined extensively for the first time on the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes. After the excavation, the small fort was preserved for the public by the Schorndorf land consolidation office and the city of Welzheim.

Building history

The excellent choice of the place on a dominating hill enabled a very good control of the wide Limes apron and the wooden palisade with its towers running to the north . On the basis of small finds, primarily ceramics found, it is assumed that this base, occupied by ten to twenty soldiers, was probably only built in the late 2nd century. Perhaps in its time it belongs to that last phase of expansion of the Limes, in which the small fort "In der Harlach" was built. In contrast to this, Rötelsee, like most small forts, does not have a flag sanctuary . Therefore, a detached unit is assumed as a troop, which probably came from Welzheim. The noticeable proximity of the two forts there could lead to this conclusion. Also of note is the size of even and optical in plan kinship with the 4,5 km northern fortlet Ebnisee and the also to the Near Limes discovered fortlet Hankertsmühle .

Small fort Rötelsee

The 18.5 × 18.5 meter (= 324 m²) square small fort is surrounded by a pointed ditch up to two meters wide, which is exposed at the only single-lane entrance. The extensive defensive walls are around one meter wide. The gate does not have a tower, but recessed tongue walls, as can also be seen at the inlets of the older east fort of Welzheim, built around 115 or 140 AD.

At the two points at which the trench ceases to exist in front of the driveway, the excavators encountered a pit each. It has been suggested that these were the remnants of a possible lock. On the inside of the wall, post holes were uncovered all around , which belonged to a former battlement. The wooden interior is grouped in the square to the south, north and west around a paved inner courtyard in the center of the fort and only exposes in the east, where the entrance and the praetorial front (front) towards the Limes are located. The courtyard had a porticus , a covered walkway. A large hearth was uncovered on its western end, under the porticus . The investigation of the swell-built interior development showed that there were two or three rooms of almost the same size. At the southeast corner, a drainage channel leading from the inner courtyard was exposed, which reached through the defensive wall to the ditch.

Rötelsee is said to have existed until the Limes was abandoned in the middle of the 3rd century. Along with the towers, small forts were one of the main bases of the Roman troops directly behind the Limes. However, their use is usually unknown. It is assumed that the unknown unit of the small fort Rötelsee was responsible for monitoring a section of the Limes.

Among other things, a fibula , a pendant in the shape of a phallus and coins were found. One of these coins came from the Republican times and was minted as a denarius of the 11th Legion by Marcus Antonius , who wanted to use this money to get the troops on his side. In addition, the youngest coins from the Lower Limes were discovered in Rötelsee and at the Haselburg small fort . They were created during the reign of Emperor Gallienus (253–260). The archaeologist Egon Schallmayer established that the Haselburg Antoninian des Gallienus was minted in 259 at the earliest.

In the course of the Limesfall, which resulted in the abandonment of the Agri decumates (Dekumatland) in 259/260 AD , the remaining Roman border fortifications were evacuated by the troops if they had not been violently destroyed beforehand.

On function and dating

Planck put together a number of small forts on the Upper Germanic Limes, similar in size, construction and distance from the border wall, under the name Rötelsee type field guards . On the basis of datable finds in the systems he has examined, he assumes that this type probably only emerged in the late 2nd century. The archaeologist Andreas Thiel dates this type of fort even younger, to the late Limes period. The reduction in the number of troops at that time resulted in a reorganization of the border surveillance. In the place of the constantly manned tower positions, the small fort of this type had now appeared in order to cope with the surveillance of the border with a crew that would no longer have been sufficient to fill the tower positions.

Limes course between the small fort Rötelsee and the forts of Welzheim

Traces of the Limes structures between the small fort Rötelsee and the forts of Welzheim
ORL Name / place Description / condition
KK Small fort Rötelsee see above
Small fort Rötelsee, course of the Limes In the course of the excavation of the small fort in 1974, the younger Große Graben and the older palisade in front of it were cut to the east of it. Both border fortifications ran south. However, the further course of the Limes over several kilometers to the south of Welzheim remained open. Since the east fort of Welzheim and parts of the vicus there would already have been in the Barbaricum if the known Limes ends had been aligned in a straight line, it was assumed that the border in this area must have obviously had a bulge to the east in order to allow all Roman facilities behind the Bring Limes. In order to shed light on this mystery, a search cut was made exactly 90 meters south of the small fort under the direction of archaeologist Marcus G. Meyer in October 2015 in order to check whether an old dirt road that accompanied the Limes for many kilometers was earlier the point to be investigated bent to the southeast, probably also followed the course of the Roman ditch here. In fact, the Great Ditch was discovered at the presumed location, which now proves a Limes bend at 36 degrees south of the small fort. The moat, which was still 2.30 meters deep and 5.80 meters wide at this point, was cut by the Romans into the sandstone at its bottom. A thin layer of charcoal was picked up around one meter above the floor and dated to the period from 653 to 768 AD using the radiocarbon method . This ensures that the moat was a clearly visible landmark until at least the early Middle Ages . The situation was different with the older palisade. Your trench was measured in the cut with a depth of 1.25 meters. The palisade continued straight to the south, although its further escape through Welzheim is still unknown. The investigation, which is part of a project of the German Research Foundation on the Welzheimer military installations, makes it clear that the palisade here has obviously been abandoned and the ditch was built as a replacement for the older wooden border, which the ditch clearly cuts through the palisade at this Limes bend .
Wp 9/129 Lower Rötelwiesen Possible tower site, which Eduard Paulus (1837–1907) described using traces that cannot be localized more precisely today
Wp 9/130 Steinbeis Paul also goes into this possible tower location, which may have been at a height south of the Rötelwiesen, but does not give a more precise description or the location.
Wp 9/131 Welzheim The presumed tower site was only suspected by the Reich Limes Commission. She attributed findings such as walls and finds from the area to the Welzheim fort village. The area is now used as a meadow.
ORL 45 / 45a Welzheim castles see main article forts of Welzheim

Monument protection

The small fort on Rötelsee and the aforementioned ground monuments have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as a section of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes since 2005 . In addition, the facilities are cultural monuments according to 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, Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7861-2347-0 , p. 245.
  • Tilmann Bechert : Roman archeology in Germany. History, monuments, museums. Reclam, Ditzingen 2003, ISBN 3-15-010516-1 , p. 400.
  • Philipp Filtzinger , Dieter Planck, Bernhard Cämmerer: The Romans in Baden-Württemberg . 3rd edition, Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0287-7 , p. 617.
  • Christian Fleer: Typification and function of the small buildings on the Limes. In: E. 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, special: p. 78 (=  Saalburg-Schriften 6).
  • Dieter Planck , Willi Beck: The Limes in Southwest Germany . 2nd edition, Theiss, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0496-9 .
  • Dieter Planck: New excavations on the Limes , Small writings for knowledge of the Roman occupation history of Southwest Germany (Writings of the Limes Museum Aalen) 12, Gentner, Stuttgart 1975, pp. 9-10.
  • Britta Rabold, Egon Schallmayer, Andreas Thiel: The Limes . Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1461-1 .
  • Walter Sölter (Ed.): The Roman Germania from the air . 2nd edition, Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1983, ISBN 3-7857-0298-1 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Andreas Thiel : On the function of the small fort on the Upper German Limes . In: Yearbook 2003/2004 of the Heimat- und Altertumsverein Heidenheim an der Brenz e. V . Heidenheim 2004, ISSN  0931-5608 , p. 72f.
  2. ↑ Dieter Planck: Neue Ausgrabungen am Limes , Small writings for knowledge of the Roman occupation history of Southwest Germany (=  writings of the Limes Museum Aalen 12), Gentner, Stuttgart 1975, p. 9.
  3. ↑ a b Dieter Planck: New research on the Upper German and Raetian Limes. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1976, ISBN 3-11-006690-4 , p. 419.
  4. ^ A b Dieter Planck: Neue Ausgrabungen am Limes , Small writings for knowledge of the Roman occupation history of Southwest Germany (=  writings of the Limes Museum Aalen 12), Gentner, Stuttgart 1975, p. 10.
  5. ↑ Dieter Planck: New research on the Upper Germanic and Raetian Limes. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World. de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 1976, ISBN 3-11-006690-4 , p. 421.
  6. ↑ Oscar Paret: Württemberg in prehistoric times . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1961, p. 342.
  7. ↑ Thomas Fischer, Michael Altjohann: The Roman Provinces. An introduction to their archeology . Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1591-X , p. 145.
  8. ↑ Markus Scholz: Ceramics and history of the Kapersburg fort - an inventory. In: Saalburg-Jahrbuch 52/53, 2002/2003, von Zabern, Mainz 2006. ISBN 978-3-8053-3636-9 , pp. 9–282. here: pp. 95/98.
  9. ^ Egon Schallmayer: The Limes. Story of a border. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-48018-7 , p. 65.
  10. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  11. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell.
  12. ↑ Marcus G. Meyer: On the trail of a riddle. To the course of the Limes near Welzheim . In: Der Limes 10/1, 1916, pp. 31–33.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Wp 9/129 at about 48 ° 53 '4.77 "  N , 9 ° 38' 6.62"  O .
  15. ^ Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich. The Upper Germanic Limes from Miltenberg am Main to Haghof near Welzheim. , Section A, Volume 4, stretches 7 to 9, 1931, 1933, pp. 188-189.
  16. ↑ Wp 9/130 at about 48 ° 52 '44.17 "  N , 9 ° 38' 14.17"  O .
  17. ^ Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich. The Upper Germanic Limes from Miltenberg am Main to Haghof near Welzheim. , Department A, Volume 4, Lines 7 to 9, 1931, 1933, p. 189 and p. 193.
  18. ↑ Wp 9/131 at about 48 ° 52 '31.66 "  N , 9 ° 38' 18.9"  O .
  19. ^ Ernst Fabricius , Felix Hettner , Oscar von Sarwey (ed.): The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes of the Roemerreich. The Upper Germanic Limes from Miltenberg am Main to Haghof near Welzheim. , Division A, Volume 4, stretches 7 to 9, 1931, 1933, p. 189.
  20. ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL.
  21. ^ West fort Welzheim at 48 ° 52 '20.18 "  N , 9 ° 37' 56.82"  E ; East Fort Welzheim at 48 ° 52 '17 "  N , 9 ° 38' 32"  O .