Long hedge

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Kahl am Main (Bavaria)
Bald on the Main
Bald on the Main
Localization of Bavaria in Germany
Location of the municipality of Kahl am Main in Bavaria

Long hedge refers to an archaeological site of the Urnfield and Migration Period in the Lower Franconian community of Kahl am Main in the district of Aschaffenburg , Bavaria . The settlement site dating from the late 4th century to the middle third of the 5th century AD with a bi-ritual burial ground is an important link for research into the ethnic and political conditions of the Germanic population in the Main estuary at the transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages. In addition, the multi-period site illuminates the late Bronze Age settlement structures of the Urnfield culture.

Location of the Lange Hecke site in the municipality of Kahl am Main
Find location "Lange Hecke", status 2017

location

The river Kahl flows into the Main between the Hessian state border, below the city of Hanau , and the western ridge of the Spessart ( Hahnenkamm ) . This is where today's municipality of Kahl am Main is located. The site is located at the eastern exit of the village, in the Lange Hecke industrial park, 120  m above sea level. NN (location) coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 49.1 ″  N , 9 ° 1 ′ 12 ″  E on the main road in the direction of Alzenau . The Kahlniederung is located about 40 m south of the site.

Research history

As early as the 19th century, cremation burials from the Urnfield era were recovered in the vicinity of Kahl am Main, and ceramics and bones from a Hallstatt-era burial mound were handed over to Frankfurt museums by residents. Even stone tools from the Neolithic period were found near the station at the turn of the 20th century. Since then, archaeologists have also unearthed urn burials as well as a vessel depot of the Wölfersheim level . Also suggest reading finds on medium-Roman Iron Age and early medieval settlements back in Kahl am Main.

Archaeological excavations

The plan of the excavation areas from 1988/89 (after F. Teichner): green: traces of settlement of the urn field culture; blue: burial ground of the migration period; turquoise: traces of settlement from the Urnfield period under findings from the migration period; orange: traces of settlement from the migration period; green dots: urn burials from the time of the urn fields; gray: no findings

The finds discovered in the Kahler area by the end of the 1980s indicated further prehistoric and early historical findings . During a site visit by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation , Würzburg branch , which was carried out in the run-up to the development work for the new industrial area East, a planned archaeological safety excavation was decided in cooperation with the Kahler community in order to professionally recover the suspected archaeological structures. The excavations in 1988/89 covered an area of ​​0.62 hectares on both sides of the Lange Hecke access road and uncovered traces of urnfield settlement, other urn burials and a migration period settlement with an associated burial ground. The north-south axis of the settlement was recorded during the excavations. At the time of the excavation, however, the western and eastern edge areas were largely destroyed by previous construction work.

Urnfield culture

The area of ​​Kahl am Main has a high density of urnfield sites, which is unusual for Bavaria. The Late Bronze Age grave and settlement finds of the Long Hedge are related to this . In addition to three urn burials that were discovered down the slope in the southern area of ​​the excavation area between migrations, at least six building structures were identified up the slope on the basis of post holes . In addition, stone pavements and pits (both storage, material removal and slot pits ) indicate settlement activities in the lower Kahlgrund , which can generally be dated to the more recent Urnfield Period (level Ha B). The buildings have a NW-SE orientation and can be subdivided into two-aisled residential or stable buildings (Buildings I-III), smaller farm buildings (Buildings IV, VI) and a square storage building (Buildings V) on the basis of their different floor areas. Similar architectural constructions have also been observed in other open urn field settlements in Hesse , Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

Migration period

settlement

Plan of the migration period settlement (after F. Teichner)

Traces of the former settlement can be found on the flood-protected terrace on the southern slope. At a depth of approx. 0.4 m, post holes, floor plans of storage pits and two pit houses can be seen in the sandy subsoil . A special orientation of the building towards a square or path cannot be recognized. The long rectangular ridge post structures make up the largest part of the findings. They are surrounded by smaller four-post buildings. The two lower, square post pits can be addressed as storage structures. The pottery found within the settlement consists mainly of imported turntable goods from Roman areas on the left bank of the Rhine. Near the northern pit house there is a racing furnace , in the vicinity of which remains of iron slag were found in lumps of clay. In the eastern pit house remains of a stove and fragments of crucibles were found on the house floor . In addition, there are crushed pieces of late Roman bronze vessels and militaria . In the south of the settlement, the two-row post holes and two trenches suggest a massive fence to protect the settlement against attackers and floods. A late Roman projectile point and burned human bones were found in the fire rubble inside the trenches.

Burial ground

The cemetery from the Migration Period extends less than 50 m from the settlement over an area of ​​1650 m². A total of 221 graves were recorded: 13 body burials and 208 cremation graves. The latter can even further into bone camp without fire debris Brandschüttungs- , Brandgruben- and collective graves are distinguished.

Relative frequencies of the different types of graves during the Migration Period grave field Lange Hecke , Kahl am Main. n = 221
Plan of the cemetery during the migration period (after F. Teichner)

Bone stores without fire debris represent the majority of the Kahler cremation graves; only the corpse burns that had been selected were dumped here, while small amounts of cremation residues were also buried in the cremation grave. In both cases, due to the compact storage of the corpse burn, it can be assumed that the human remains were placed in an organic container (made of fabric, leather or wood, for example) that rotted over time. Only one cremation grave with a ceramic urn was recovered over the entire area. The fire pit graves differ from the fire embankment graves in that the entire pit was filled with fire rubble and there was no reading of the corpse fire.

A special feature of the Kahler grave field are the collective graves with cremation burials, which have no parallels in southwest Germany. The grave pits, which were up to 2 m deep, reached a maximum area of ​​8 m² and contained not only fire rubble with corpse burns and small-scale remains, but also unburned secondary objects on the bottom of the pit. These aspects speak for cultural connections in the East Germanic area of ​​the Przeworsk culture in Poland and the Dobrodzień Guttentag level in Upper Silesia . In addition, it can be assumed that the more elaborate grave building was created for socially superior individuals.

The body burials can be divided into a north and a south group due to their location. The skeletons were mostly decomposed because of the alkaline soil , which was poor in calcium and only recognizable by the so-called corpse shadow. On average larger than other grave structures of the epoch and provided with a gradation, the body graves seem to represent a simplified form of the niche or chamber graves of the Caucasus region . Some of the graves were already stripped of ancient times .

The cremation and body graves were partly laid out at the same time, so one can speak of a biritual grave custom.

  • Additions from body grave 213: The clover-leaf jug (Eifler Ware) and the hand-made grooved mug in a reconstructed original position (Image: F. Teichner)

  • Body grave 212 with preserved partial skeleton (Image: F. Teichner)

  • Findings of a bone store (grave 94) during the excavations (Image: F. Teichner)

Anthropological research

Relative gender distribution in the cemetery of Lange Hecke , Kahl am Main, during the Migration Period . n = 202

Anthropological studies on age, gender and demography within the migration period necropolis were carried out on 193 graves. A total of 202 individuals could be distinguished, including 107 women and 48 men. Among the female buried, adult individuals (20 to 40 years of age) predominate, which is related to the high rate of complications during pregnancy and childbirth . The low number of juvenile and adult men (13–40 years) is striking in the age distribution of male individuals.

Both the majority of female individuals and the relatively old age of the male buried indicate that the young men left the settlement and, if they had not died abroad, returned home at a mature age (40–60). Due to the range of gifts in the graves, which in addition to Germanic goods also includes glass vessels, Roman military equipment, terra sigillata and terra nigra , researchers assume that the men capable of weapons served as foederati in the Roman frontier army .

Historical context

The establishment of the Roman fort to expand the Main Limes also resulted in civil settlements and influences on the Germanic population. The proximity of the settlement to the Großkrotzenburg fort speaks for a direct influence between the Germanic settlers and the Roman outposts. The discovery of a Limeszeit vessel in the area of ​​the site confirms an exchange between the two groups.

The migration period settlement and necropolis of the Lange Hecke can be divided chronologically into three phases. Phase I covers the late 4th century AD and can therefore be classified in the post-Valentine era. Phase II is addressed as late Roman, so it consists of the first decades of the 5th century. The third phase (up to 450/470 AD) is classified as early as the Protomerovingian period based on the finds . The settlement falls into the post-Limesque period from 260 AD, during which the forts abandoned by the Romans (e.g. Stockstadt , Hainstadt , Seligenstadt and Großkrotzenburg ) increasingly show signs of Germanic use. The Roman infrastructure and agricultural areas were retained by the new settlers. Despite the Germanic use of the Großkrotzenburg fort after the Romans left, a coin of Honorius from the first half of the 5th century was found, which speaks for a long Roman access to goods. After the Romans withdrew, hand-made goods dominated the Germanic population. The fact that the settlement in the area of ​​today's Kahl am Main was unaffected by previous settlements speaks for the attraction of the Roman fort complexes to the Germanic population. The presence of the Roman imported goods that were found within the settlement and the cemetery is an indication of the influence. A further confirmation of the relationships are the underrepresented male individuals of military age within the grave field, who were buried elsewhere as foederati or who only died in old age in Kahl am Main.

In the course of the 4th century, the settlement of the Germanic hilltop castles increased . Late Roman coin finds in the hilltop castle near Kreuzwertheim suggest that the hilltop castles were in the service of Roman border defense. Other hilltop castles, such as Wettenburg and the hilltop settlement on Glauberg , emerged in the area of ​​the Main line and thus near the settlement of Lange Hecke , which speaks for the importance of the settlement near the border. Compared to the hilltop castles, a similarly high proportion of imported provincial Roman metal, glass and ceramic goods was found in the settlement.

At the beginning of the 5th century, the Germanic tribes of the Alemanni and Burgundians were already resident within the Main estuary. The Roman writer Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Main on the former Upper Germanic Limes as the border between the two groups. So it is likely that the settlement in today's Kahl am Main was in the border area of ​​both tribes. As Ammianus reports, after the death of the prince of the Alemanni tribe of the Bucinobanten 390, the area was largely under Burgundian control. Only the western Roman general Flavius ​​Aëtius , with the support of the Huns 435/437, pushed the Burgundians into the areas on the right bank of the Rhine.

literature

  • Felix Teichner : Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground of the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. Volume 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, ISBN 978-3-7847-5080-4 . ( Online ).
  • Otto Mathias Wilbertz : The urn field culture in Lower Franconia (=  material booklets on Bavarian prehistory. Series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. Volume 49). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1982, ISBN 978-3-7847-5049-1 .
  • Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main: A migration period settlement with burial ground in the Rhine-Main area. In: Ethnographic-Archaeological Journal . Volume 36.1, 1995, pp. 86-99 ( online ).
  • Stefani Büchner, Diane Marie Müller-Matheis, Antonius Pira, Peter Volk: The women's village of Kahl am Main during the Migration Period. Anthropological studies of cremations and body burials. On the problems of demography, pathology and social stratification. In: Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory. Series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. Volume 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 153-160.

Web links

Commons : Lange Hecke  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolf-Armin von Reitzenstein : Lexicon of Franconian place names. Origin and meaning . Upper Franconia, Middle Franconia, Lower Franconia. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-59131-0 , p. 114 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 17-18.
  3. ^ Ferdinand Kutsch : Hanau. Museum of the Hanau History Association. Baer, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1923–1926 (= catalogs of West and South German antiquity collections 5) p. 48.
  4. ↑ kahl-main.de
  5. ↑ Ludwig Wamser : On the prehistory and early history of the lower Kahlgrund. In: E. Rücker (Ed.): Kahl am Main in the course of the centuries 1282–1982. Municipality of Kahl am Main, Kahl am Main, 1982, 16-17 and 27-28.
  6. ↑ Otto Mathias Wilbertz: The urn field culture in Lower Franconia (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory. Series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 49). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1982, pp. 122-124.
  7. ↑ Christine Wohlfahrt: A vessel depot of the Wölfersheim group from Kahl a. Main, Aschaffenburg district, Lower Franconia. In: The Archaeological Year in Bavaria. 1986, 1987, pp. 57-60.
  8. ^ Franz Oelmann : The ceramics of the Niederbieber fort. (= Materials for Roman-Germanic ceramics. 1) Baer, ​​Frankfurt a. Main, 1914, p. 72.
  9. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, p. 19.
  10. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 19-21.
  11. ↑ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main: A migration period settlement with burial ground in the Rhine-Main area. In: Ethnographic-Archaeological Journal. 36, No. 1, 1995, p. 88.
  12. ↑ Felix Teichner: Settlement and burial ground during the migration period near Kahl a. Main. In: The Archaeological Year in Bavaria. 1988, 1989, p. 130 ( academia.edu PDF).
  13. ↑ Felix Teichner: House floor plans from an Urnfield settlement of Kahl am Main (Lower Franconia). In: Svend Hansen , Volker Pingel (Hrsg.): Archeology in Hessen. New finds and findings. Festschrift for Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann on his 65th birthday (= International Archeology. Studia honoraria. 13). Marie Leidorf GmbH, Rahden / Westf. 2001, ISBN 3-89646-393-4 , pp. 83-89 ( academia.edu PDF).
  14. ↑ a b Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main: A migration period settlement with burial ground in the Rhine-Main area. In: Ethnographic-Archaeological Journal. 36, No. 1, 1995, pp. 88-89.
  15. ↑ Sven Gustavs: Work waste of a Germanic fine smith from Klein Köris, Kr. Königs Wusterhausen. In: Publications of the Museum for Pre- and Early History Potsdam. Volume 23, 1989, pp. 147-180.
  16. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 32-33.
  17. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 33-35.
  18. ^ Felix Teichner: Gentes foederates on the Lower Main. In: Thomas Fischer, Gundolf Precht , Jaroslav Tejral (eds.): Teutons on both sides of the Limes. Materials from the 10th International Symposium “Basic Problems of Early Historical Development in the Northern Central Danube Region ”, Xanten from December 2nd to 6th, 1997 (= Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno. 14). Archaeological Institute et al., Cologne, Office 1999, ISBN 80-86023-15-X , p. 147 ( online ).
  19. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, p. 36.
  20. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 46-47.
  21. ↑ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main: A migration period settlement with burial ground in the Rhine-Main area. In: Ethnographic-Archaeological Journal. 36.1 1995, p. 92.
  22. ^ Felix Teichner: Completion of the excavations in the area of ​​the migration period settlement with burial ground near Kahl am Main. In: The Archaeological Year in Bavaria . 1989, 1990, pp. 150-151 ( academia.edu PDF).
  23. ^ Stefani Büchner, Diane Marie Müller-Matheis, Antonius Pira, Peter Volk: The women's village of Kahl am Main during the migration period. Anthropological studies of cremations and body burials. On the problems of demography, pathology and social stratification. In: Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, pp. 155-159.
  24. ^ Felix Teichner: Gentes foederates on the Lower Main. In: Thomas Fischer, Gundolf Precht, Jaroslav Tejral (eds.): Teutons on both sides of the Limes. Materials from the 10th International Symposium “Basic Problems of Early Historical Development in the Northern Central Danube Region ”, Xanten from December 2nd to 6th, 1997 (= Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno. 14). Archaeological Institute et al., Cologne, Office 1999, ISBN 80-86023-15-X , pp. 146 and 156.
  25. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, p. 136.
  26. ^ Felix Teichner: Gentes foederates on the Lower Main. In: Thomas Fischer, Gundolf Precht, Jaroslav Tejral (eds.): Teutons on both sides of the Limes. Materials from the 10th International Symposium “Basic Problems of Early Historical Development in the Northern Central Danube Region ”, Xanten from December 2nd to 6th, 1997 (= Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno. 14). Archaeological Institute et al., Cologne, Office 1999, ISBN 80-86023-15-X , p. 148.
  27. ^ Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Lassleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, p. 15.
  28. ↑ Claus Bergmann: From the state border to the garbage heap. In: hessenARCHÄOLOGIE 2001 pp. 101–102.
  29. ^ Claus Bergmann: Großkrotzenburg. Northern end point of the main limit. In: Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany. 27. Hanau and the Main-Kinzig district. Theiss, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8062-1119-1 , 143-147.
  30. ^ A b Felix Teichner: Kahl am Main. Settlement and burial ground during the migration period (= material booklets on Bavarian prehistory, series A. Find inventories and excavation findings. 80). Michael Laßleben, Kallmünz / Opf. 1999, p. 137.
  31. ^ Felix Teichner: Gentes foederates on the Lower Main. In: Thomas Fischer, Gundolf Precht, Jaroslav Tejral (eds.): Teutons on both sides of the Limes. Materials from the 10th International Symposium “Basic Problems of Early Historical Development in the Northern Central Danube Region ”, Xanten from December 2nd to 6th, 1997 (= Spisy Archeologického Ústavu AV ČR Brno. 14). Archaeological Institute et al., Cologne, Office 1999, ISBN 80-86023-15-X , pp. 146 and 156.
  32. ↑ Felix Teichner: In the footsteps of the Nibelungs. In: Archeology in Germany . Stuttgart 1994, 4, 1994, pp. 22-27 ( online ).
  33. ^ Wilhelm Schleiermacher : The Burgundians on the Limes. In: Varia archaeologica: Wilhelm Unverzagt presented on his 70th birthday, Berlin, 1964, 192–194.
  34. ↑ Timo Stickler : Die Hunnen , Munich, 2007, p. 57.