Small fort Becheln

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Small fort Becheln
limes ORL NN ( RLK )
Route (RLK) Upper German Limes ,
route 2 (Lahn-Aar)
Type Small fort
unit unknown vexillatio
size 22.10 mx 23.60 m = 0.05 ha
Construction stone
State of preservation invisible ground monument
place Becheln and Schweighausen
Geographical location 50 ° 17 '11.8 "  N , 7 ° 44' 18.2"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 17 '11.8 "  N , 7 ° 44' 18.2"  E
height 396  m above sea level NHN
Previous Small fort "Auf der Schanz"
(north)
Subsequently ORL 5: Fort Hunzel (southeast)

The small fort Becheln was a Roman fort in the Upper German Limes , which was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2005 . The ground monument, which is no longer visible today, is located in the woods between the present-day local communities of Becheln and Schweighausen , which belong to the Rhineland-Palatinate Rhein-Lahn district .

location

The small fort Becheln is located about one and a half kilometers southeast of Becheln and about one kilometer northwest of Schweighausen, immediately north of Kreisstraße 8, which connects the two places. It is located at around 396 meters above sea level in a piece of forest belonging to the Becheln Forest .

Findings

Floor plan and terrain profile

The small fort Becheln was discovered and archaeologically excavated in 1905 by Robert Bodewig (1875–1923), the local route commissioner of the Imperial Limes Commission . The former military camp is a stone fort with an approximately square floor plan of 22.10 × 23.60 meters, which corresponds to a usable area of ​​around 0.05 hectares. The defensive wall was rounded at the corners. It had a wall thickness of one meter on the north-east facing side towards the pile ditch, compared to 85 to 90 centimeters on all other sides. The fortification was completely towerless. With its only gate - a simple passage 2.50 meters wide - it oriented itself to the northwest. The camp was surrounded by a simple pointed ditch , which, due to its shallow depth, probably served less as an obstacle to approach than as a drainage channel. Today nothing of the facility is visible in the area.

Two transverse walls are attached to the inside of the south-western and north-eastern perimeter walls. The north-eastern transverse walls are 90 centimeters thick, 2.80 meters long and 3.20 meters apart. Between them, the defensive wall is reinforced by an inward-facing base protrusion. This construction was repeated on the southwest side. At the time of the excavations, however, the findings were already considerably disturbed. The transverse walls were three meters long and 3.25 meters apart, the wall thickness was probably only 30 centimeters. The function of the two constructions is unclear.

Nothing is known about the unit that occupied the small fort. It should have been the vexillatio ( detachment ) - with the strength of one, at most two centurions - of a larger auxiliary unit .

Limes course between the small fort Becheln and the fort Hunzel

The best preserved section of this route is located between the watchtowers WP 2/12 and WP 2/14 within an extensive prehistoric burial mound field .

Traces of the Limes structures between the small fort Becheln and the fort Hunzel
ORL Name / place Description / condition
KK Small fort Becheln see above
Wp 2/8 "On the gray stone"
Wp 2/8 floor plans
Visible excavation traces of a stone tower and a wooden tower. Even Karl August von Cohausen had suspected in 1884 at this point a small fort, in fact, the excavations of the Reichs-Limes Commission promoted in 1895 under the local leadership of Otto Dahm the foundations of a watchtower to day, which was located within a walled courtyard.

The approximately square courtyard with sides of 16.45 × 16.84 meters was bordered by a 1.25 meter thick wall made of rubble stones and clay mortar. At its north corner - protruding from the line of the wall - stood a square corner tower, which had walls one meter thick with a side length of 4.35 meters. The walling of the courtyard left a 2.50 meter wide entrance free on the northeast side, which faced the Limes. In the center of the courtyard, shifted slightly to the northeast, towards the entrance, was the actual, square watchtower, which had walls 0.75 meters thick with a side length of 5.60 meters. The watchtower construction is unique in its kind on the Upper Germanic Limes.

Wp 2/8 wooden tower position

Immediately in front of the entrance area, the rampart and moat, but not the palisade, were interrupted over a width of around 9.50 meters. An older wooden tower site - immediately northwest of the stone structure, partially overlaid by the courtyard wall - was investigated in more detail in a follow-up study in 1899 under the direction of Wilhelm Soldan (1842–1905). The wooden tower site could be identified based on its postings and the ring ditches surrounding it. Since the trenches were not concentric to one another, but were partially superimposed, as well as due to the number and the different nature of the post holes, the existence of two different construction phases can be assumed with certainty, although they cannot be specifically dated.

The towers at this point were excellently positioned as they afforded a far-reaching all-round view in general and a view as far as the forts of Holzhausen and Marienfels in particular.

Wp 2/9 Based on the distance between Wp 2/8 and Wp 2/10 as well as the topographical conditions suspected but not proven.
Wp 2/10 "At the angle"
Wp 2/20 floor plans
Wp 2/10 wooden tower position
No longer visible, but archaeologically proven tower point. The foundations and the rising masonry of the stone tower had already been excavated by the owner of the property before the investigation carried out in 1898. The dimensions of this rectangular tower with side lengths of 5.20 × 5.51 meters could only be determined via the foundation pit with all the reservations made with this method. The tower was about nine meters from the bottom of the moat and about 15 meters from the palisade of the Limes. Immediately in front of him was a six-foot-wide interruption in the wall and the ditch. The palisade, however, ran through without interruption.

About eight meters north-west of the stone tower was the older wooden tower site, where a two-phase structure could be detected. In both phases, the respective wooden tower was surrounded by a moat. The outer ditch is partly covered by the Limes wall.

Wp 2/11 "At Dörstheck"
Wp 2/11
No longer visible, but proven part of a stone tower about five meters away from the center of the moat. The tower had a square floor plan with a side length of 5.50 meters, the wall thickness was 0.82 to 0.90 meters. Immediately opposite the tower was a 12.60 meter wide interruption of the wall and the moat, but not the palisade. The search for an older wooden tower by means of several exploratory cuts was unsuccessful.
Wp 2/12
Wp 2/12
Perceptible tower part of a stone tower with a square floor plan, examined in 1898. The footprint of the tower, with sides of 4.50 × 4.50 meters, was smaller than that of the towers that preceded the Limes; The wall thickness was also significantly less at just 0.68 meters. The distance to the center of the moat was only six meters. Wall and ditch were interrupted over a length of 23.50 meters immediately in front of the tower. The palisade, however, was preserved over its full length. The search for a wooden previous tower was unsuccessful.
Wp 2/13 "At the Hardt" Visible excavation traces on a stone tower hill discovered in the 1898 investigations. The excavation activities at that time were made very difficult by the nature of the terrain, especially by the dense forest. The tower was located 25 meters from the moat, which at this point had an interruption of 7.35 meters in length. The palisade was not interrupted. The tower was only partially excavated to prove its existence and the stone masonry. Size information is therefore not available. Likewise, a wooden previous tower could not be determined with certainty, but a burial, the addition of which in the form of a lance tip indicates the burial place of a soldier.
Wp 2/14 "In the Wolfskaut"
Wp 2/14
Large stone tower hill with preserved foundation walls, which was examined in 1898 by Ernst Fabricius (1857–1942). A previous wooden tower could not be proven with certainty. The square stone tower had a side length of approximately six meters. The wall thickness was 0.78 to 0.80 meters. In addition to fragments of the original lime plaster, strong traces of fire were found on its eastern corner. The tower was surrounded by a shallow drainage ditch at a distance of between two and three meters. Before the Wp 2/14 the moat was interrupted over a length of 17 meters, the palisade, however, had no interruption. The tower and its drainage ditch were in the middle of the rampart; it was passed on its north side by a 1.5 meter wide ravine.
Wp 2/15 "On the Mehlacker" No longer visible tower point just outside the equipment hall of an agricultural enterprise. Already at the time of the Reich Limes Commission, the site was severely disturbed by stone robbery. A stone tower could be detected due to the few foundation stones and the foundation trench, but its dimensions could no longer be determined more precisely. The distance of the tower from the bottom of the moat, which was probably not interrupted at this point, was about twelve meters. The search for a wooden predecessor building was fruitless.
Wp 2 / 15a Presumed, but archaeologically not proven tower site. The expected findings were probably eroded by soil erosion on the steep slope.
Wp 2/16 Only due to the frequency of litter finds that can be narrowed down to some extent at a place where the Limes ditch was interrupted. The presumed tower was probably completely demolished by stone robbery by the residents of the nearby village of Berg .
Wp 2/17 "On the Nack"
Wp 2/17
Wp 2/17
The tower part of a stone tower that can no longer be identified in the area, which has only been partially archaeologically excavated. The tower point is located on terrain that slopes sharply to the south. The length of the tower was measured at only one point at 5.67 meters. At a distance of one meter it was surrounded by a 1.25 meter wide and 40 centimeter deep pointed ditch. The distance between the tower and the moat, which was interrupted at this point, was about eight meters. No interruption could be found at the palisade moat. The search for a suspected wooden tower was fruitless.
Wp 2/18 "On the Kuckucksberg"
Wp 2/18
No longer visible place of a wooden and a stone tower in an exposed place, from which there was a line of sight up to Wp 14 (WNW) and Wp 21 (OSO). The stone tower was only 1.80 meters from the edge of the moat, which was not interrupted at this point. The side lengths of the approximately square tower were 5.67 × 5.71 meters, its wall thickness was 0.83 to 0.85 meters.

Immediately to the northwest of the stone tower and partially overlapping in the east by the moat was a complex, multi-phase wooden tower. Here, the postings of two towers, two associated ring trenches and an almost rectangular trench could be differentiated. The inner, smaller tower, whose post spacing suggested a side length of about 2.30 meters with a post thickness of 23 to 25 centimeters, was assigned the inner ring cave, which reached a depth of over 1.60 meters with a width of three meters and - from the middle of the ditch to the middle of the ditch - had a diameter of around 12 meters. For the second, outer wooden tower, the posts of which must have been significantly stronger, a side length of almost five meters was assumed. The outer ring moat was assigned to him, which had a diameter of almost 20 meters. These findings were intersected by a rectangular trench with a side length of six to seven meters. The abundant and easily differentiable occurrence of fire debris speaks for an end to both wooden towers due to fire.

ORL 5 Hunzel Fort see main article Hunzel Castle

Monument protection

The small fort Becheln 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 and Conservation Act (DSchG) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

See also

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ ORL = numbering of the Limes structures according to the publication of the Reich Limes Commission on the O bergermanisch- R ätischen- L imes
  2. ↑ KK = unnumbered K linseed K astell
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ^ Karl August von Cohausen: The Roman border wall in Germany. Military and technical description of the same . Kreidel, Wiesbaden 1884. pp. 218 f.
  5. ↑ Wp 2/8, stone tower, at 50 ° 17 ′ 3.7 ″  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 38.44 ″  E
  6. ↑ Wp 2/8, wooden tower, at 50 ° 17 ′ 4.02 ″  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 38.03 ″  E
  7. ↑ Wp 2/10 at around 50 ° 16 '59.12 "  N , 7 ° 45' 15.94"  E
  8. ↑ Wp 2/10, stone tower, at 50 ° 16 '54.52 "  N , 7 ° 45' 33.99"  O
  9. ↑ Wp 2/10, wood tower, at 50 ° 16 '54.71 "  N , 7 ° 45' 33.38"  O
  10. ↑ Wp 2/11, stone tower, at 50 ° 16 '40.44 "  N , 7 ° 45' 51.58"  O
  11. ↑ WP 2/12, stone tower, at 50 ° 16 ′ 23.24 ″  N , 7 ° 46 ′ 15.56 ″  E
  12. ↑ Wp 2/13, stone tower, at 50 ° 16 '11.33 "  N , 7 ° 46' 52.58"  O
  13. ↑ Wp 2/14, stone tower, at 50 ° 15 ′ 50.02 ″  N , 7 ° 47 ′ 21.6 ″  E
  14. ↑ Wp 2/15, stone tower, at 50 ° 15 '29.36 "  N , 7 ° 47' 42.47"  O
  15. ↑ Wp 2 / 15a at around 50 ° 15 '21.42 "  N , 7 ° 48' 6.19"  E
  16. ↑ Wp 2/16 at around 50 ° 15 '16.08 "  N , 7 ° 48' 28.29"  E
  17. ↑ Wp 2/17, stone tower, at 50 ° 15 ′ 9.12 ″  N , 7 ° 48 ′ 55.84 ″  E
  18. ↑ Wp 2/18, stone tower, at 50 ° 14 ′ 59.97 ″  N , 7 ° 49 ′ 26.33 ″  E
  19. ↑ Wp 2/18, wooden tower, at 50 ° 15 ′ 0.22 ″  N , 7 ° 49 ′ 25.27 ″  E
  20. ↑ ORL XY = consecutive numbering of the forts of the ORL
  21. ↑ DschG or DSchPflG RP