Bickenbach swamp bridge

In the Roman era, the Bickenbach swamp bridge was a bridge construction in the Hessian Ried that was used for both military and civil purposes . She lay in Darmstadt-Dieburg in Bickenbach on the mountain road in Won "Schiffslache", a marshy area on the edge of the alluvial fan of the River Vltava and a Neckar -Altlaufs. The bridge was part of the Roman road from Gernsheim to Dieburg and led to the small fort Allmendfeld on the edge of the swamp. Nothing of the facility is visible above ground today.

Research history

In 1934, workers of the Reich Labor Service (RAD) discovered several oak stilts in the "Schiffslache" area while building drainage ditches in a swamp area near Bickenbach. It was assumed that there was an old boardwalk through the swampy terrain. In 1967 additional stakes were discovered in the area. The first test excavation was then carried out by the Darmstadt branch of the State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen (LfD) under the direction of Werner Jorns . The "Working Group for Prehistory and Early History Bergstrasse" carried out further excavations in 1969 and 1976. The LfD Hessen examined the site again in 1997.

construction

According to the results of the archaeological investigations, the bridge structure was approx. 300 meters long and consisted of more than 300 oak piles vertically inserted into the ground.

In addition to the small fort Allmendfeld, the Villa rustica "Steinmauer" is located in the immediate vicinity of the bridge. A similar bridge construction in the Hessian Ried existed in Roman times near Riedstadt - Goddelau in the corridor "Auf der Nachtweide".

Dating

Dendrochronological investigations on the wooden piles showed that the oak wood of the bridge was felled in the year 145 ± 5 AD. Soft woods that were also examined suggest a predecessor from the Vespasian period. Numerous finds from the area around the bridge, including 11 coins and just as many fibulae , also suggest that the complex began in the earliest phase of occupation. The bridge was probably abandoned by the end of the 2nd century and replaced by a road embankment.

Monument protection

The Roman bridge of Bickenbach is a ground monument in the sense of the Hessian Monument Protection Act . Investigations and targeted collection of finds are subject to approval, and accidental finds are reported to the monument authorities.

Individual evidence

↑ Geyer 1977, p. 39.
↑ Singer 2006, p. 64; Göldner 2002, p. 82.
↑ Geyer 1977, p. 40.

literature

Werner Geyer et al .: The Roman swamp bridge near Bickenbach (Darmstadt district). In: Saalburg Jahrbuch 34, 1977, pp. 29–41.
Holger Göldner, Alexander Heising: small fort and ship landing. Investigations on Roman military installations in the Hessian Ried. In: Der Odenwald 53, Heft 4, 2006, pp. 131–148.
Egon Schallmayer : Gernsheim GG. In: Dietwulf Baatz , Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann : The Romans in Hessen. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0599-X , p. 315 f.
Hans-Günther Simon : Bickenbach DA - swamp bridge. In: Dietwulf Baatz and Fritz-Rudolf Herrmann: The Romans in Hessen. Theiss, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-8062-0599-X , pp. 242-244.
Christiane Singer: The vegetation of the northern Hessian Ried during the Iron Age, Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages. Frankfurt am Main 2006, p. 64 f. ( PDF download )