Meclaria
Meclaria / Maglern was a Roman settlement at the southern foot of the Schlossberg of Strassfried in the market town of Arnoldstein in the Villach-Land district , Carinthia .
Transport hub
According to Heimo Dolenz and Martin Luik ( provincial Roman archaeologists and field archaeologists ) chance finds and isolated emergency excavations allowed the ancient traffic junction Maglern to be located not far from the center at the southern foot of the castle hill of Straßfried . This is where the Via Julia Augusta road, running north from Aquileia across the Canal Valley , bifurcated, on the one hand to continue over the Gailtal to the west, towards municipium Iulium Carnicum (Zuglio), on the other hand, passing the Noric capital, the municpium Claudium Virunum ( Zollfeld ) to establish a connection with the Roman cities in the Danube region . From excavations carried out by the founder of the Villach Museum, Andreas Picco, in the 19th century , not only building remains but also tubule fragments and lead pipe fragments from a water pipe were recorded. After small finds had repeatedly come to light during plowing, the first emergency excavation at the southern foot of the Schlossberg was carried out in 1969 as a result of leveling work in which ancient masonry was broken into and partially destroyed. The marble components that came to light were superimposed on burials without additions, which the excavator regarded as probably late antiquity . Quarry stone masonry and a hearth were uncovered in a search cut down the slope that had already been torn open. Comb-streak ceramics found in situ in the fire ash layer of the hearth dates to the 1st century AD.
Allocation of the settlement stock
The identification of the so far only sparsely found settlement with the only place name Meclaria mentioned in the Lombard history of Paulus Diaconus was carried out by R. Egger. Altars dated to the Middle Imperial period and consecrated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus by beneficiaries come partly from the slopes of the nearby Hoischhügel , where they probably served as building material in the fortified late antique settlement , or are located as spolia in the nearby churches. In any case, they provide epigraphic evidence of the existence of a beneficiary post in the area of this rural settlement and road station (mansio), which one can suspect with good reason in the, albeit sparse, yet existing Roman settlement remains at the foot of the Schloßberg.
Excavation on the B 111a
Since the few known settlement finds from the imperial period have so far been limited to the southern area of the Schloßberg slope, wall sections and small finds that were encountered during large-scale humus removal work on the western foothills of the mountain aroused great interest. It is thanks to the trained eye and the attention of Mr. G. Oberrauner that the ancient walls found in the course of the construction of a 1200 square meter excavated gravel dump directly at the bottom of the road embankment B 111a could not be completely covered and archaeologically examined. The rescue excavations were then carried out by the Magdalensberg Working Group. The excavation team found themselves confronted with a situation similar to that already described on the occasion of an emergency excavation carried out in 1969 at the southern foot of the Schlossberg. At the beginning of the excavation, destruction was already evident and the majority of the area that had just been pushed off was already backfilled several meters high with rubble and excavated material (see Fig. 1). The archaeological investigations could therefore initially only be limited to reading the numerous small finds from the excavation excavation and then only to the archaeological investigation of that approximately 200 square meter, not yet covered area, on which wall sections could be seen on the surface. The wall sections, which are only 0.2 to 0.3 meters below the original sward, belong to a room with clear dimensions of 4.4 × 4.7 meters that is almost square. After removing the overburden, which had been heavily compacted and dragged out by the dredging work, the lowest set of foundations of this hypocausted room could still be exposed.
Hypocausted room
Apart from a 0.3 meter deep fault in the northeast corner, which was probably caused by heavy machinery in the course of the expansion of the B111a during work on the slope, the floor plan came to us as a foundation finding that was still 0.2 meters high, essentially undisturbed (see floor plan) . Both the enclosing walls (0.6 - 0.65 meters thick) and the 16 suspension pillars measuring 0.7 by 0.7 meters on average were set directly into the ocher-colored clay. As construction material both for the foundations of the enclosing walls, as well as for the Suspensurpfeiler were predominantly limestone used in the drying technique with clay were connected as a binder; Limestone tuff stones were only used sporadically as corner stones . Remnants of the originally existing lime mortar binder have only been preserved in very small quantities due to the direct overlay of the masonry with humus. The pending ocher-colored clay served artificially solidified as a hypocaust sole (level minus 3.66 meters). In places, small fire residues could still be found on the surface. The very small remains of tubule fragments, which were found in the southern part in a fragmented state, allow the conclusion, at least for the southern wall, that it was tubulated, due to its location. One of incorporated in the north wall 1.0 x 0.4 meters long, red sandstone block (surface level minus 3.48 meters), at the same time also the Ostwange located between the two middle Suspensurpfeilern Praefurniums forms, is the simultaneous conditioning of space and Floor heating. The western cheek of the Praefurnium consists of the somewhat narrower suspensory pillars. In the area of the 0.8-meter-wide and 1.1-meter-deep furnace, the loam is laid out with small-sized limestone stones and leveled horizontally with mortar (level minus 3.637 meters).
Praefurnium
Subsequent to the praefurnium, the boiler room (Fig. 2 / II) could be seen at least in its extension limited to the north. The north wall, a 0.6 meter thick quarry stone wall, is attached with a joint to the outer northeast corner of the hypocausted room at an angle of 30 °. After 4.5 meters, it bends to the south at 17 °, a fact that can be explained by adapting the wall to the site situation at the time of construction. It is noticeable that this north wall is founded 0.6 meters deep in the loam on its south front (lower edge minus 4.28 meters) and has a 0.2 meter protrusion. The particularly deep foundations in this case and rubble stones in the lintel position, which were found north of the wall on a piece of soil, as well as a kink in the terrain that originally existed here, could reveal a kind of terracing wall in it. In the clay floor (level minus 3.72 meters) of the gusset-like boiler room, small fragments of charcoal and ash stains remained in situ . Here, too, the walking level of the boiler room corresponds functionally to that of the hypocaust sole . Towards the entrance area in the west, the floor level will have risen to the level of the ancient walking level, the latter being about one meter above the hypocaust sole. The destruction documented here does not allow any further knowledge with regard to the entrance area or the western boundary of the room. Furthermore, 1.5 meters south of the north-west corner of the hypocausted room, the last set of foundations of a west-east wall that could still be traced for about 10 meters was found. This starts with a construction joint on the west wall foundations of the hypocausted room I. After 4.2 meters, a north-south wall, which was only preserved in the lowest set of foundations, was approached, which is aligned with the west-east wall and is aligned approximately parallel to the west wall of the hypocausted room I, which is south of the wall Area divided into two rooms. The original extent of room IV, which came to us almost exclusively in its northeast corner, can no longer be reconstructed. In the east wall of room I, which continues to the south, the eastern boundary of room III can be seen. This results in a maximum west-east extension of 9.4 meters and a minimum north-south extension of 7.0 meters for this area. Instead of a floor level in rooms III and IV, only the pending, sterile yellow clay (from a level between minus 3.8 and minus 4.07 meters) was found.
Based on the level of Hypokaustsohle in space I (Kote minus 3.66 meters) and grown in southern Lehmhorizont of the room In ( Kote minus 3.17 meters) is the ancient one Gehhorizont in the spaces III and IV than about 1.0 meters higher up (between about minus 3.00 and minus 2.6 meters). This would also harmonize with the floor horizon in room I (approximately level minus 2.5 meters), which is usually assumed to be around one meter above the hypocausis . Taking this into account, one can speak of a massive and deeply founded structure in the present case.
No clear function determination
However, it is no longer possible to clearly determine the function of the building findings uncovered in the course of this rescue excavation due to the poor state of preservation and the small area examined by it. Due to the existing construction joints, the possibility, albeit unlikely, that room III was annexed to hypocaust room I at a later date must remain open. In the hypocausted room I, you will be able to see a living room that could almost certainly be entered from the south or the west. The south-west adjoining room III could theoretically have been heated by the heating system with tubulation on the south wall; Perhaps one will have to recognize here a part of the building serving economic purposes. Basically, however, the floor plan of the present building, consisting of foundations and substructures , fits into a series of findings that can also be assigned to Roman street settlements (vici or mansiones).
literature
- Carinthia I: Journal for historical regional studies of Carinthia , pp. 157–178; Publishing house of the history association for Carinthia, 2003, 193rd year. ISSN 0008-6606
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ A compilation of the existing excavation findings and small finds from the southern foot of the Schlossberg can be found with a reference in Heinzl 1999, 50 ff .; also Glaser 200 I, 391 ff. The following description of the findings is essentially based on the first preliminary report (Dolenz 2002). The catalog processing of the litter and emergency excavation finds has now been carried out by Mr. Univ. Doz. M. Luik allows a more comprehensive as well as a more detailed look at this site, which is why a new description of the associated building findings appeared to be justified.
- ↑ VgJ. Kubitschek 1905, 132.
- ↑ Dolenz 1972/73, 29 ff; ders. FÖ 9, 194.
- ↑ Dolenz 1972/73, 32; Glaser 2001, 393
- ↑ Egger 1916, 93 ff. With reference to Paul. Diac. Hist. Langob. 4, 38; see. also Piccottini 1989, 47, no.233.
- ↑ Kubitschek 1905, 129ff .; ders. 1912, 209 ff .; Egger 1916, 97 ff .; Dolenz 1955, 96 ff .; Leber 1972, l3ff.
- ↑ Plots 180, 181 and 204 of KG 75427 Maglern were affected by the humus removal work.
- ↑ It should be noted that the competent (and timely informed) ground monument conservator at the State Conservatory could have prevented such damage from being caused by the authorities in good time . - We would like to thank the following interns for their cooperation: C. Bortolin, I. Dörfler, St. Eichert, J. Hörburger, J. Macek, N. Schütz, A. Steiner and M. Stermitz. The excavation community owes special thanks to the landowner, H. Schnabel. Without the altruistic material and active support from Messrs. G. Oberrauner (Südburg / Thörl-Maglern ) and H. Krainer / Villach , this venture could hardly have been realized, for which we would like to thank them sincerely. The documentation of the small finds was kindly carried out by Dr. S. Zabehlicky-Scheffenegger and the students eh. Bartolin, G. Ziliani, M. de Frenza, I. Formentin, T. Milavec and S. Pop. We would like to thank Dr. E. Schindler Kaudelka and Ms. Mag. M. Hofer, but especially Ms. Mag. N. Schütz.
- ↑ See Oolenz 1972/73, 31.
- ↑ See for example: Assmann 2000 (Gabromagus); FleischerlMoucka-WeitzeI1998, houses J u. F (Immurium); Kaiser 1883, 106; ders. 1884, 147; Dolenz 1952, 189 f. Investigation by the BDA 1980 (Matucaium); R. Franke, FO 37, 1998, 774 ff. And this., FO 38, 1999, 834 ff. ( Loncium? ). Basically make 20-40 square meter, square to squat rectangular rooms with Pfeilerhypokausten and vorgelagertem boiler room in Noricum the commonly held, but also in the urban ambience additive used living room form the middle to late Roman Empire represents (eg Dolenz / Görlich 1935. Gugl 2000, rooms 0 12a, b, Gl, 2; Dolenz 2002a, RX, R Xa, RXV, RXXII, XXXVI, XLVI).