Oppidum Finsterlohr

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Aerial view of the Celtic fortifications Finsterlohr / Burgstall
Plan of the Celtic fortifications Finsterlohr / Burgstall

The Oppidum Burgstall near Finsterlohr, often also called Oppidum Finsterlohr , was a fortified, city-like Celtic settlement from the La Tène period (late Iron Age) near the town of Creglingen (Main-Tauber district, Baden-Württemberg). Archaeological investigations have so far only taken place to a very limited extent. However, the facility has been under investigation again since 2007.

topography

A wall separated the fortification “Oppidum Finsterlohr” from the surrounding area.
Construction of a post slot wall
The origin of the term can be seen in the reconstruction of the post slit wall in Burgstall: The posts are each embedded in a gap, a vertical "slot" in the front of the wall.

The area of ​​the Burgstall near the district of Burgstall is bordered on two sides by the Taubertal and in the southeast by a brook valley. The western side is only partially separated from the plateau by a valley. Here, the main wall, which runs around the entire complex, is supplemented by another so-called pre-wall. The hamlet of Burgstall of the same name is located within the 123.5 hectare fortification . The partially still visible wall is the remainder of mighty fortifications made of earth, wood and stone. The Celtic traces can be recreated on a nature trail.

Archaeological educational trail

A 2.5-kilometer-long nature trail with six stations has been laid out near the village of Burgstall (see above On the trail of the Celts - photo of the overview map).

  • Station 1: What was before and after the Celts? At the site of Mesolithic tools, an information board provides information about the history of the area.
  • Station 2: The reconstruction of a post slit wall shows the former fortification, which today is only preserved as a wall.
  • Station 3: Close to the border between Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, which runs here today, the board provides information about the coinage and language of the Celts.
  • Station 4: At the old gate , the pincer gate can still be recognized and explained by an information board.
  • Station 5: A look into the steeply sloping Taubertal shows how the fortifications were protected by the natural height difference in earlier times. Masterpieces of Celtic jewelry are also explained here.
  • Station 6: At the Old Lake , information is provided about the interior development and use of the Celtic complex. The assignment of manors and valley settlements to the oppidum is mentioned on the information board. A loom, bronze tweezers and a bronze nail cutter are shown as examples from everyday life. The proximity of the settlement to long-distance trade routes between the Main Triangle and the Swabian Alb / Danube and the salt production in Bad Mergentheim are also mentioned, as are images of Celtic clay jugs.

“They pour the wine that is imported by merchants into them unmixed ... until they fall intoxicated into sleep or a state of delirium. ... They are taught that the souls of men are immortal. ... They wear eye-catching clothing, shirts in different colors with floral patterns and long trousers, which they call 'braken', over which they hang striped coats with a shoulder brooch. "

- Greek author : information board on the nature trail
  • Celtic house: In 2011, a replica of a Celtic house was built next to the flax breaker hut and the station's information boards.

Attachment

Reconstruction drawing of a pincer gate
Model of a homestead in the Oppidum Manching - this could also have looked like in Finsterlohr-Burgstall.

In 1929 Kurt Bittel discovered the remains of a pincer gate during excavations in the northwest of the oppidum . The gate passage therefore consisted of two 3.5 m wide gate leaves as well as an accessible transition. The gate is illustrated on a display board using a reconstruction drawing for the Manching oppidum .

In 1973, part of the main rampart and the porch was examined as part of a road construction. A building history consisting of three periods emerged on the main wall. Since the construction of the first wall phase only had a limited lifespan, it was replaced in period II with a "variant of the real murus gallicus ", but without the typical stone facing. The last phase of the main wall consisted of a post slit wall that has been fully reconstructed to a length of twelve meters since 2008 and integrated into the archaeological nature trail. The wall, however, only had one construction phase.

Archaeological investigations in 2007 and 2008 confirmed the existence of a further gate in the east of the main wall, also with several construction phases.

use

Despite extensive agricultural use and the erosion of soil during road construction, hardly any findings could be made that could indicate settlement. Zürn emphasizes the rock that is already in place after 30 cm. In view of the relatively frequent appearance of rainbow bowls and Celtic settlement findings in the vicinity of the oppidum, it was already suspected that this complex might have been a pure defense system for times of need. Field inspections in the last few decades have yielded late Celtic readings at various points in the oppidum and thus condensed the image somewhat. During subsequent excavations at the corresponding sites, no building remains of settlements could be found. However, the same result was also obtained by excavations at late Celtic settlement sites in the vicinity of the oppidum. Therefore, more recent research is based on the assumption that the finds indicate some kind of settlement and that the lack of structures in today's soil suggests that there is no settlement.

See also

literature

  • Kurt Bittel : excavations at Finsterlohr's castle stable . In: Germania 14, 1930, pp. 30-38.
  • Kurt Bittel: The Celtic oppidum near Finsterlohr . In: Württembergisch Franken 24/25, 1950, pp. 69–86.
  • Ralf Keller: The settlement of the Iron Age and Roman Imperial Era in the "Reißwag" near Lauda-Königshofen in the Taubertal. Theiss, Darmstadt 2015. Excursus: Oppidum Burgstall pp. 230–235. Catalog of the sites in the oppidum and its surroundings, pp. 300–303.
  • Martin Thoma: The east gate of the late Celtic fortification Burgstall near Creglingen-Finsterlohr, Main-Tauber district . In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 2008 , pp. 105–110.
  • Martin Thoma: A new gate system at the Oppidum Burgstall near Creglingen-Finsterlohr, Main-Tauber district . In: Archaeological excavations in Baden-Württemberg 2007 , pp. 101–105.
  • Hartwig Zürn : Excavations in the oppidum of Finsterlohr . In: Fund reports from Baden-Württemberg 3, 1977, pp. 231-264, doi: 10.11588 / fbbw.1977.0.24837 .

Web links

Commons : Oppidum Finsterlohr  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A photo of the flax breaker hut in Burgstall can be found on the WP page flax fiber .
  2. ↑ Zürn 1977, p. 239
  3. ↑ Thoma 2008
  4. ↑ Zürn 1977, p. 261
  5. ↑ Claus Oeftiger: Creglingen-Finsterlohr, TBB (BW). In: Sabine Rieckhoff and Jörg Biel (eds.): The Celts in Germany. Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, 318 f. - Markus Schußmann: Some thoughts on the late Celtic refugia in southern Germany. In: Helmut Birkhan (Ed.): Celtic incursions on the Danube. Philological - historical - archaeological evidence. Files from the fourth symposium of German-speaking Celtologists Linz / Danube 2005; Commemorative publication Konrad Spindler. Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2007, ( memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, philological-historical class . 345), p. 482 f.
  6. ↑ Keller 2015, pp. 233–235 and 300–303.

Coordinates: 49 ° 26 ′ 7 ″  N , 10 ° 6 ′ 58 ″  E