Oppidum Kastel-Staadt

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The Kastel-Staadt oppidum is a Celtic castle complex ( oppidum ) with an extensive settlement from the Latène period , which is located in the municipality of Kastel-Staadt (Rhineland-Palatinate). It is a ground monument with an area of ​​about 30 hectares. A prominent feature is the approx. 7 m high and 200 m long earth wall, which seals off the mountain spur settlement from the plateau.

Topographic location

The oppidum is located at the northern exit of a longer breakthrough valley through the western foothills of the Hunsrück . There, in the west , the Saar is lined with steep walls of the red sandstone for a short distance. The plateau between the Moselle and Saar (Saargau) slopes down almost 200 m to the flood plain. Correspondingly deeply cutting side valleys created the impressive plateau spur of Kastel, which is naturally delimited on three sides by cliff-like rock walls. The narrowing of the plateau is sealed off by the impressive earth wall.

Monument description

The section wall

The 200 m long rampart is still up to 7 m high today. There is a ditch in front of it. The section wall is broken through by the village road; presumably there was already a passage / gate system at this point in antiquity.

During a construction project in 1956, the wall was opened and observations on its structure could be documented. As a result, the wall had five construction phases, consisted of a wooden box construction with earth filling and stone facing using drywall technology.

literature

  • Karl-Heinz Koch, Reinhard Schindler : Prehistoric and early historical castle walls of the Trier administrative district and the Birkenfeld district . Trier 1994 ( Trier excavations and research vol. 13, 2), pp. 127–130, plan 82.
  • Hans Nortmann: The Iron Age castle walls of the Trier country . In: Alfred Haffner, Andrei Miron (Ed.): Studies on the Iron Age in the Hunsrück-Nahe area . Trier 1991 (Trier Journal, Supplement 13), pp. 121–140.
  • Hans Nortmann: Kastel-Staadt, Trier-Saarburg district. Circular route: Celtic fortifications, Roman settlements, monuments from the Middle Ages and modern times. In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region. Trier 2008, ISBN 978-3-923319-73-2 ( publication series of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 35 ) p. 126f.

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 34 ′ 2 ″  N , 6 ° 34 ′ 5 ″  E