Oppidum Lindenhof

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The Celtic oppidum Lindenhof stood on the Lindenhof hill range in the Swiss city ​​of Zurich . It formed the settlement center of the Gallo-Roman Vicus Turicum in the first century BC.

topography

Limmat , Schipfe and Lindenhof moraine

As the most striking elevation of the Lindenhof district ( District 1 ), the Lindenhof hill range , merging north into the Sihlbühl, forms the center of Zurich's old town on the left bank of the Limmat . Since the construction of Uraniastrasse (1905), the Lindenhof – Sihlbühl has been bordered in the north - the area of ​​the former Oetenbach monastery and the police main station (Amtshaus I) - and extends in the south to St. Peter's Church . The Lindenhof ( 428  m above sea level ), which is largely flattened today, rises around 25 meters above the level of the Limmat at the level of the Schipfe ( 405  m above sea level ).

The Celtic settlement from the late La Tène (1st century. V. Chr.) Was on the Lindenhof-Sihlbühl. Remains have been found on the hilltop and on the western slope, in the area of ​​the densely built-up urban area around Rennweg and Oetenbachgasse. At Fortuna- and Oetenbachgasse, parts of a mighty V-shaped ditch from the same time have been discovered, which belonged to the fortification or could have separated parts of the city or quarters of the Celtic settlement. The currently archaeologically known extent of the settlement area from the 1st century BC Chr. Is around 3.5 hectares.

Settlement history

The Celtic settlement area on the Lindenhof with the outlines of the late Roman fort

The shallow bank areas of Lake Zurich that resulted from the formation of the moraine produced between 4500 and 850 BC. The formation of Neolithic and Bronze Age lakeside settlements at the Limmat lake runoff, for example at the Kleiner and Grossen Hafner as well as the Bauschänzli , Alpenquai and Lindenhof. The Lindenhof was probably inhabited by the Middle Bronze Age at the latest (around 1500 BC), as finds from tools from the Limmat lead one to believe. At that time, the Lindenhof was probably largely surrounded by water: until the early Middle Ages , the Münsterhof to the south was a swampy hollow, flooded by a branch of the Sihl that flows into the Limmat .

Until 1997, a settlement from the late La Tène period could not be archaeologically proven, although finds were available but not recognized as being of Celtic origin. It was assumed that there was a river / lake settlement on the Limmat in connection with the oppidum Uetliberg and the prince grave mound Sonnenbühl on the municipality of the neighboring Uitikon .

The early urban development process of Zurich began with the expansion of the Roman Vicus Turicum from 15 BC. Assumed that after the Alpine campaign of Drusus and his brother Tiberius, the area on the left bank of Lake Zurich was incorporated into the border area of ​​the Roman provinces of Raetia and Germania superior . The hill was part of what was probably a rather small, unpaved settlement that stretched around the customs post on both sides of the Limmat.

Turicum , the Roman name of today's Zurich, is mentioned for the first time at the end of the 2nd century AD, on a tombstone of the one and a half year old Lucius Aelius Urbicus , son of the head of the Roman customs post , discovered near Lindenhof . The tombstone, discovered in 1747, repeatedly encouraged speculation about a Celtic settlement: The Latin name STA {TIONIS} TURICEN {SIS} for the Turicum customs station suggests a pre-Latin origin of the place name, even if the origin of the name is not clear. According to current knowledge, the most likely derivation of Turicon from the Celtic personal name Turos . Several stone buildings are known from the Roman era in the area of ​​the Lindenhof: In the Thermengasse (Weinplatz), where a Limmat Bay once lay, remains of the public Roman bathing facility can be viewed , in the so-called Lindenhofkeller Roman foundations and remains of the fort from the late 4th century . The adjoining church of St. Peter presumably stands on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter, and the Zurich underwater archaeologists found the remains of a round temple ( island sanctuary ) from AD 122 near the Grosse Hafner .

For the early medieval and later settlement history see Lindenhof (Zürcher Hügelzug) , Quartier Lindenhof and History of the City of Zurich .

Archaeological exploration

Remains of a Roman building in the so-called Lindenhofkeller.
Excavation work on the initiative of Emil Vogt, 1937/38

The moraine hill is one of the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland. Ferdinand Keller , the founder of the Antiquarian Society and pioneer of Zurich antiquity research, suspected traces of Celtic settlement on the Lindenhof in the 19th century. Although he found a ditch there, which he attributed to the Celts, he was unable to provide any solid evidence. On July 3, 1890, several metal lumps came to light 5.5 meters deep in an excavation near the former stock exchange building at Bahnhofstrasse 1 (Bürkliplatz), the largest of which weighs 59.2 kilograms, and which for decades could not be historically classified.

The disillusionment for Celtic research followed in 1937/38 when the prehistorian Emil Vogt searched the entire Lindenhof knoll with over 100 exploratory incisions - and found nothing but Roman relics, but no evidence of an early Celtic settlement. Excavation manager Vogt secured further traces of the early Roman military installation, which he related to the Roman Alpine campaigns in 15 BC. As it turned out sixty years later, the Celtic layers were significantly deeper than the exploratory bores reached and were embedded in the sterile moraine soil, so that they hardly differ visually from the oldest backfills with the same material. Professor Vogt believed that he had already reached the sterile moraine with his exploratory incisions, which is why he received no clear findings: in fact, he had found some Celtic fragments, but could not recognize them as such due to the state of research at the time. In the decades since Vogt's excavations, the archaeological investigations continued on a modest scale, but not across the board. As a result of the densely built-up historical city center, only rescue excavations were carried out , which mostly had to be subordinate to the specifications of the respective building project. In 1989 archaeologists discovered traces of a Celtic settlement for the first time during the renovation of the Hotel Widder on Rennweg; the importance of the finds was only recognized when in 1997 remains of Celtic buildings from the late Latène period were found beyond doubt.

In 1997, the Department of Monument Preservation and Archeology of the City of Zurich reassigned Margrit Balmer to the excavation management for the increasing number of rescue excavations. During the appraisal of finds from earlier excavations that were not unequivocally classified, she surprisingly came across clearly Celtic finds that had previously been overlooked in the depot. The breakthrough came with the renovation of the sewer system on Rennweg between 1997 and 1999: “ We were in the middle of a Celtic settlement! »In 1999 the Swiss National Science Foundation , the City Archeology and the Canton Archeology of Zurich launched a multi-year project. This includes new excavations and the main focus is on viewing and reworking the numerous rescue excavations that had been carried out in the old town since the 1960s - with a wealth of individual information that had never been scientifically analyzed as a whole due to a lack of capacity.

Since then, further finds have been found during excavations at the foot of the Lindenhof, the scientific analysis of which clearly proves the Celtic settlement of Zurich. In the summer of 2007, as part of an excavation campaign by the municipal archaeological department in the backyard of the Rennweg 35 property, an area 20 meters long and 5 meters wide was recorded at a depth of four meters when the basement was expanded. In the Celtic settlement horizon of the 1st century BC A stone paving and remains of wooden buildings were found, as well as fragments of wine amphorae from Italy and stippled slabs that were used in the manufacture of coins. In Roman times and in the Middle Ages, the area was not built over, but used as a green area or backyard - in the 19th century there was an ornamental garden with a pond.

Findings

Settlement area

The Lindenhof with the Sihlbühl plateau on the right and the Schipfe on the altarpieces by Hans Leu the Elder

In particular, the subsequent excavations, mainly on Oetenbachgasse and on a small terrace in front of the Lindenhof in the north-west, provided informative information. The Lindenhof is topographically predestined for a Celtic settlement: the isolated moraine hill, steeply sloping towards the Limmat in the east, offers a natural shelter. The hill descends more gently to the north and west - this is where the wide river delta of the Sihl expanded at the time of the Celtic settlement and into the High Middle Ages . During floods, this split into many arms and transformed the Lindenhof hill into an island, because the Sihl did not flow directly into the Limmat as it does today, but instead drained south into the lake in front of the Lindenhof. The Celts built their settlement here and made use of its strategically excellent location.

According to Caesar's reports, the estimated settlement area of ​​at least 3.5 hectares is very small for an oppidum, but the excavation manager assigns the site central functions, mainly because of its location at the outflow of Lake Zurich. The convenient location suggests a transshipment point (wine yard) for the transport of goods by land and water , and the trade routes could be monitored and customs duties levied, as is proven by inscriptions for the Roman settlement era. For the time being it cannot be determined with certainty whether the comparatively small settlement was fortified; During the excavation campaign in 2004, a V-shaped trench 42 meters in length was discovered on Fortuna- / Oetenbachgasse, but this is interpreted as an inner division of quarters. It dates from around 80/60 BC. And was filled in during Roman times.

The interior of the settlement is still largely unexplored, as the Celtic remains lie throughout the densely built-up city center. Only small sections of the Celtic buildings could therefore be excavated and, due to the small study areas, only partial house floor plans could be mapped as a whole. Nevertheless, according to current knowledge, there are two subsequent construction methods: the older, late Celtic houses were built in the so-called post construction, the younger ones were timber houses in half-timbered construction . Inside the building there were fireplaces and various pits, probably storage cellars or landfills. Layers of fire show conflagrations, which were probably not uncommon in these settlements, which were mostly made of wood (an exact date is open). In such a layer of fire there were several storage pots with grains, which archaeobotanics analyzed as spelled . A conspicuous find was found in the back courtyard of the Rennweg 5/7 buildings: a huge boulder with a cavity that served as a fireplace. In the immediate vicinity there were almost completely preserved pots, which the excavation director suggests was a place with cultic significance, but also allows other interpretations.

Lump of Potin

The "Potinklumpen" seized on Bahnhofstrasse (Alpenquai settlement) in 1890, the largest of which weighs 59.2 kilograms, are kept in the State Museum and until recently could not be classified by research.

Potin coin Zurich type
Late Celtic ceramics from the excavation at Rennweg 5

The chunks consist of a large number of Celtic coins fused together and mixed with pieces of charcoal. A distinction can be made between two types of coins: Potin coins of the Sequaner, resident in Eastern Gaul, and of the so-called Zurich type , which can be attributed to native Helvetians . Well-known sites are, as mentioned, at Bahnhofstrasse (Bürkliplatz) - settlement Alpenquai or Grosser Hafner - and individual finds at the oppidum Uetliberg . A total of around 18,000 potin coins were melted from the potin chunks, which date back to around 100 BC. To be dated. The Zurich-type potin coin has a double anchor ornament on the obverse and a horned animal (perhaps a deer) with a curly tail that cannot be clearly identified on the reverse. The find is unique to date and poses a number of puzzles for scientific research: It is striking that the melting of the lumps was not completed. Whether the further processing of the extremely heavy chunks in molten form was even attempted appears to be questionable, and ritual offerings are one of the possible interpretations of the find. The site of the discovery, which at that time was at least 50 meters from the shore and probably one to three meters deep in the water of Lake Zurich , is revealing . Other prehistoric and early historical sites of metal objects that were intentionally destroyed and deposited in the water, for example swords, are comparable. The exceptional location suggests offerings that were entrusted to the water as part of ritual acts. This coincides with the findings from some Celtic sites and reports by Greek and Roman authors that the Celts made offerings in lakes and moors.

Stippling plates

Among the finds from the excavation campaign in the summer of 2007 on Rennweg were fragments of two so-called stippling plates , of which the Zurich city archaeologists are very proud. The better preserved fragment consists of a palm-sized piece of fired ceramics with several round depressions for making money (mostly potin coins). In the recesses small amounts of metals were melted, and thereby produced flans were used for coinage. A connection between the fragments found on Rennweg and the lump of coins has not been clarified: Potin coins were cast from a bronze alloy , while the stippled plates were more likely to be used to mint silver or gold coins , which the Celts also used. The remarkable find suggests that the Celtic settlement from the 1st century BC. BC had a mint and was therefore much more important than previously assumed.

Significance of the settlement

This assumption is also supported by another discovery: The V-shaped Celtic trench in Oetenbachgasse was probably not an outer, but an inner trench. This knowledge is important because the Celts of the late Latène period divided their settlements into different city quarters with ditches. As in other settlements, this could have been a demarcation between the areas of craftsmen , the nobility , cult areas and public places. Iron slag was found on the northwest slope of the Lindenhof as evidence of metalworking, and as early as 1866 a bundle of 20 rod-shaped iron bars - each 50 cm long and weighing 770 to 850 grams - was found during excavation work in the Limmat at the Rathausbrücke.

Valuable finds from Celtic times would have been expected in the area of ​​the Uraniastrasse (built in 1905), the presumed focus of the Celtic settlement. However, so much soil was removed during the construction of the road that in this area (Sihlbühl / Police Main Guard) no further traces of the settlement are expected in future excavations.

References to other sites

A connection of the settlement from the 1st century BC. At the Lindenhof with the hilltop settlement ( Akropolis ) on the oppidum Uetliberg and the prince grave hill Sonnenbühl can be assumed. Both could be counted among the Oppida described on Swiss territory in Caesar's De bello Gallico and are likely to have been of supraregional importance. An abandonment in the Gallic War or dating of the settlement history around the turn of the ages is still open.

So far, only conjectures can be made about a simultaneously existing island sanctuary of the Celtic Helvetii on the Grosse Hafner , even if the already mentioned Roman round temple from the early 2nd century is proven and could be built on an earlier sanctuary.

With this new overall archaeological analysis, a pre-Roman, Celtic Zurich can be considered secure, even if correctly - yet - one cannot speak of a classical oppidum after Caesar. A precise chronological classification of the settlement period is still open, the finds are so far too sparse.

literature

  • Margrit Balmer: Zurich in the late Latène and early imperial times. From the Celtic oppidum to the Roman vicus turicum. ( Monographs of the Canton Archeology Zurich 39). Building Construction Department of the City of Zurich, Urban Archeology. FO Print & Media AG, Zurich and Egg, 2009. ISBN 978-3-905681-37-6
  • Felix Müller and Geneviève Lüscher: The Celts in Switzerland . Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart, 2004. ISBN 978-3-8062-1759-9
  • Michael Nick: One and a half quintals of Celtic change - new research on the “potin lump” of Zurich . In: Swiss Numismatic Rundschau 83, 2004, pp. 97–117.
  • Thomas F. Klein: Paths to the Celts: 100 excursions into the past . Theiss Verlag GmbH, 2004. ISBN 3-8062-1840-4
  • Building Department of the City of Zurich (Ed.): Celts in Zurich. The origins of the city of Zurich in a new light . Building History Archive of the City of Zurich, Zurich 2001.

Web links

Commons : Zurich  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Geneviève Lüscher : Turicum - The Celtic Zurich gains in profile. UniPress 128/2006, University of Bern.
  2. ^ Office for Urban Development of the City of Zurich: Information board Euro 08 platform (The raft) and underwater archeology.
  3. ^ Website Rennweg 8 house
  4. ↑ a b c Website civil engineering office of the City of Zurich: Züri z'Fuess ( Memento from April 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ): Lindenhof terrace
  5. ^ Website of the Fürstensitz Kelten Info Bank
  6. ^ Geneviève Lüscher : Turicum - The Celtic Zurich is gaining in profile . University of Bern, 2004.
  7. ↑ Christoph Pfister: New considerations on the old urban structure of Bern, Bremgarten near Bern and Aventicum ( Memento of March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ The tombstone is in the Swiss National Museum , a copy is embedded in the wall at Lindenhof (Pfalzgasse).
  9. ↑ Masonic lodges: Lindenhof (Modestia cum Libertate) ( Memento from December 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ^ Andres Kristol: Zurich ZH (Zurich). In: Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses - Lexicon of Swiss municipality names - Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS | LSG). Center de dialectologie, Université de Neuchâtel. Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld / Stuttgart / Vienna 2005. ISBN 3-7193-1308-5 and Éditions Payot, Lausanne 2005, pp. 992f. ISBN 2-601-03336-3
  11. ↑ In the so-called Lindenhofkeller near the building of the Zurich Masonic Lodge Modestia cum Libertate, well-preserved building remains from Roman times, the Middle Ages and the early modern times can be viewed on display boards. The key to the Lindenhofkeller can be obtained from the architectural history archive upon reservation by telephone.
  12. ^ Cantonal archeology, Building Department Canton Zurich (ed.): Archeology in the Canton of Zurich 2003–2005 . Reports of the Canton Archeology Zurich 18. Verlag Fotorotar, Zurich / Egg 2006. ISBN 978-3-905681-22-2
  13. ↑ a b c NZZ (October 18, 2007): Sensational Celtic find in Zurich: The Celtic settlement at Lindenhof was more important than previously assumed
  14. ↑ a b c Information sheet on Celtic Money in Zurich: The spectacular "Potink Lump" . Office for Urban Development of the City of Zurich, Urban Archeology (Ed.). Zurich, October 2007.
  15. ^ Felix Müller and Geneviève Lüscher: The Celts in Switzerland . Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-8062-1759-9 .
  16. ^ Gilbert Kaenel : Helvetier; From the beginning of the Gallic War to the defeat at Bibracte (58 BC). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '22.8 "  N , 8 ° 32' 26.6"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and thirty-six  /  247492