Zillis cult cave
The cult cave is located at the southern end of the village of Zillis im Schams in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland . Sometimes the cave is also called "Cave under Hasenstein".
location
The cave is located at a height of 940 meters in a ledge of conglomerate rock above a terrace above the Hinterrhein , barely 400 meters from the Church of St. Martin . It is around 15 meters wide and around 7 meters deep. The remains of a mortar wall can still be seen at the entrance line. The cave was originally likely to have been washed out by the Hinterrhein, which then flowed even higher. It is open to the public.
Above the cave is the castle of Hasenstein, where, in addition to the remains of a high medieval castle complex, the foundations of a late Roman building complex were found.
history
In the summer of 1990, playing children discovered human and animal bones in the cave, which they brought to their pastor Huldrych Blanke (1931–2010) for religion class. In a roundabout way, the bones reached the Graubünden Archaeological Service, which initiated a first inspection of the cave on June 5, 1990. At that time the cave entrance was only 60 centimeters high, the height inside was between 80 centimeters and 1.4 meters. A first small exploratory excavation from June 11th to 13th uncovered numerous other animal and human bones that were dated to the 7th century using the radiocarbon method .
As it was feared that adventurous children would continue to carry out “archaeological digs” in the cave, the Archaeological Service of Graubünden decided to excavate the cave in the summer of 1991. These excavations under the direction of Jürg Rageth and Gian Gaudenz lasted from July 2nd to September 19th and provided evidence of a late Roman cult site. In 1992 and 1994 further excavations were carried out in the area of the sloping forecourt.
Findings
Exploratory excavation in 1990
The first excavations showed that the bones came from at least four people: a man aged 25 to 30, a woman around 30 years and two other people, one of whom was probably over 40. The animal bones were from cattle, sheep / goats, pigs, a fox and various amphibians and birds.
Excavation 1991
More bone fragments from several individuals were found just below the surface. The bones lay on a three-foot-thick gravelly-loamy layer that had apparently been intentionally brought into the cave. The same layer of fill material was later found in the area of the forecourt. At first it was unclear why the cave and forecourt were filled in with more than 100 m 3 of material.
Under this layer was a 40 centimeter thick layer of carbon and ash. A stone setting with a diameter of 2 meters was found on it, with a second hearth underneath. Below was another fireplace, next to it a 70 centimeter deep pit with a diameter of almost 1.50 meters. Small rock crystals, votive sheets made of silver, glass beads, remnants of oil lamps and iron artefacts suggest a dwelling. Ashes and charcoal were obviously not removed, but left; the reason for this was initially unknown. It was noticeable that the approximately 440 bronze coins found from the period between 260 and 400 AD were scattered horizontally and vertically throughout the cave.
In the southern area of the cave three skeletons were found, which, in contrast to the other bone finds, lay in graves. In the oldest grave lay a 55-year-old man who was buried in the 4th century BC in the Latène period and who had nothing to do with the later use of the cave. A 14-year-old girl (?) Was buried in the second grave in the early Middle Ages . The third grave, surrounded by a stone border, was in the entrance area of the cave. Traces of wood fibers suggest a coffin burial. In the supine position lay the remains of a 33-year-old man who was around 178 centimeters tall and was buried in the 6th century. His spine was badly damaged on the inside, which could indicate a stake .
Excavation in 1992 in the outside area
This excavation lasted from May 5 to June 19, 1992. A top layer, which was probably thrown down from the Hasenstein plateau above the cave, turned out to be practically empty. In the layer below there was a lot of late Roman material, including numerous coins, small rock crystals, iron and bronze objects, an almost complete vessel made of soapstone , including the remains of an oil lamp. The numerous ceramic shards glazed in mustard yellow to olive green include the remains of the so-called snake vessel as well as several appliqués with depictions of Mercury , the Roman goddess Luna and a boar. Some of the finds are exhibited in the Rhaetian Museum in Chur .
Remnants of the snake vessel
Crystals and Roman Coins
Subsequent excavation in 1994/95
In a subsequent excavation in 1994/95, a dry stone wall and seven graves were found on the river terrace below the cave; individual graves date from the late 8th or the beginning of the 9th century. Apparently a late Roman cult flourished here again in the early Middle Ages.
Conclusions
Remnants of two green-glazed ceramic vessels with a snake motif provided a possible explanation for the numerous questions: Snake vases were cult vessels and were often associated with Roman cults of oriental character; often with the Mithraic cult . The cave served as a place of worship, which was mainly used from 260 to 500 AD. The hearths served as fire altars, the ashes of which could not be removed. A plastered tuff block found that was a good 30 centimeters high could have served as a small altar. The coins distributed throughout the room were probably offerings; the animal bones came from sacrifices or cult meals.
It is unclear which deity was worshiped. The snake motif, the location of the cave and the meaning of the fire point to a Mithras cult, even if a final confirmation of this has not yet been provided. The dead buried here were not Christians, otherwise they would have been buried in the St. Martin cemetery. Because they were denied burial there as adherents of a pagan cult, they were buried in the cave.
Although Emperor Theodosius I forbade all late Roman cults towards the end of the 4th century and had elevated Christianity to the state religion, this late Roman cult in Zillis seemed to have continued parallel to early Christianity until well into the 5th century. This could also explain the question of filling up the cave: Christians put an end to the old cult by filling the cave with earth in the 6th century. It fits that the cult vessel was found badly destroyed outside the cave. A replica of the drinking vessel, made by Hannes Weiss on the basis of the 90 fragments , is exhibited in the Zillis church museum. This also provided proof that the object can be drunk, the vessel holds almost a liter of wine. The staked corpse could have been a priest of the ancient cult executed by early Christians.
The Rhaeto-Romanic word spelunca means barrack or (robber) cave. In German, Spelunke is a run-down pub, so this defamatory term would be quite old.
Summary
- In the 4th century BC a man was buried in the cave.
- From the 2nd to the 6th century the cave served as a cult site. One or more destruction of the place during this time is likely.
- Probably in the 6th century two dead were buried in the cave; a youth and a man who was violently killed.
- The cave was also filled in in the 6th century.
- In the 7th century human bones were buried in the southern part of the cave; probably a subsequent burial .
literature
- Huldrych Blanke: How the late antique cult cave was discovered in Zillis . In: Bündner Kalender 1994, pp. 95–99.
- Alfred Liver: Cave under Hasenstein. Report on the excavation campaign 1994. In: Yearbook 1994 of the Historical Society of Graubünden , pp. 100-103.
- Jürg Rageth: A late Roman cult site in a cave near Zillis GR. In: Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History 51, 1994, pp. 141–172.
- Jürg Rageth: Pagan rites in early Christian Switzerland. A late Roman cult site in a cave near Zillis, Canton of Graubünden. In: Antike Welt 27, 1996, pp. 381-386.
Web links
- NZZ
- Liver / Rageth: "New contributions to the late Roman cult cave of Zillis: the excavations of 1994/95"
- Showcaves
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clavadetscher / Meyer: Burgenbuch Graubünden, p. 173
- ↑ Jürg Rageth: Roman sites of Graubünden ; Series of publications by the Rätisches Museum, Chur 2004; P. 84
- ^ E. Schwertheim: The monuments of oriental deities in Roman Germany
- ↑ Jano F. Pajarola: "The riddle of the snake vessel is solved" in Bündner Tagblatt, Chur September 1st, 2016; P. 9
- ^ Vocabulari, search for spelunca