Limburg Roman Camp

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As a Roman camp Limburg an der Lahn two temporary be early Roman military camp within the boundaries of today's Eschhofen , a district of Limburg an der Lahn in Hessen ( Germany ), respectively. They come from the time of Gaius Julius Caesar , so they were built before the actual Roman conquest of Germania . The two systems were discovered and examined in 2012.

location

The site is not visible above ground above the southern bank of the river Lahn ( Taunus side ) on an area that was used intensively for agriculture until 2012. This is to the right of the former route of the federal motorway 3 behind the Lahntalbrücke Limburg at junction 43 "Limburg-Süd" on the Cologne-direction carriageway and to the left of the high-speed route Cologne-Rhine / Main between Lahntalbrücke and Limburg Süd station . During the construction of the Reichsautobahn (RAB 31), a cut was made in the ridge on the "Hammerberg" and one half of a Roman fortification was destroyed. The replacement of the motorway bridge in Limburg, which began in 2013 - the new bridge is further to the east than the previous construction - made a new route necessary, which completely destroyed the site.

Limburg and the Limburg Basin were already settlements in pre-Roman times and were accessible via old roads; a ford crossed the Lahn here. In ancient times , the area of ​​the Lahn valley on the right bank of the Rhine was Barbaricum, which was not yet subjugated by the Roman Empire .

The two camps discovered are likely in connection with Caesar's Rhine crossings described in De bello Gallico in the years 55 BC. BC or 53 BC Stand. The Roman troops found completely different conditions in the areas east of the Rhine and north of the Danube than in Gaul, which had already been conquered . Political, administrative and economic centers on which Roman rule could have been based did not exist with a few exceptions. The Lahn, which flows into the Rhine ( Rhenus in Latin ) , offered itself to a Roman military expedition as a fast transport and supply link. The location in the Limburg Lahntal widening was probably chosen carefully and on the basis of strategic considerations, because from here the entire surrounding area could be easily seen and the Lahn and its tributaries Elbbach ( Westerwald ) and Emsbach (Taunus) controlled.

Research history

Archaeological finds from the Augustan period near Lahnau - see Roman camp Lahnau-Dorlar and Roman Forum Lahnau-Waldgirmes - put the Lahn Valley at the center of provincial Roman research in the late 20th century . Well-known early Roman sites not far from the mouth of the Lahn, such as the early Roman fort of Koblenz and the new discoveries upstream near Lahnau, as well as the knowledge that the Roman commanders chose the distances between their camps so that they corresponded to the distance that Roman troops could cover within a day, initially suggested that the Roman camps found in the Limburg Basin also came from this Augustan conquest of Germania. On the other hand, the fact that they are even several decades older and can be associated with Caesar's punitive expedition to Germania on the right bank of the Rhine, which has been almost exclusively documented in literature, is also considered an archaeological sensation in specialist circles.

In the course of the construction of the Reichsautobahn, route 31 Frankfurt am Main - Cologne , finds from pre-Roman times came to light in the area of ​​the Limburg Lahntal Bridge at the incision in the ridge on the "Hammerberg". In 1936/37 the area was archaeologically examined by Ferdinand Kutsch - between 1927 and 1956 director of the State Museum of Nassau Antiquities in Wiesbaden (today part of the Wiesbaden Museum ) . At the time, he hid various finds and found the floor plan of a Neolithic house as well as pits of a Latène Age settlement of Celts . Traces of the two early Roman military camps were not noticeable at that time, as the subtle differences in soil in the backfilling of the trenches differed little from the surrounding soil and only show up in the stratum after cleaning, drying and maturing. In addition, there was no possibility of geomagnetic investigations at that time . Part of the Roman camp that stretched under the motorway was destroyed by the National Socialist road construction project at the time.

In the run-up to the necessary replacement of the bridge, the simultaneous relocation of the Federal Motorway 3 including the Limburg-Süd junction in the direction of the “Im Ahlen” area, the first subsoil investigations for the foundation of the new building were carried out in spring 2010 ( exploratory drilling ). This prompted the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse (LfDH) to carry out a geomagnetic partial survey of the affected area. Straight trench structures with rounded corners could be seen on the measurement image. This playing card shape is typical of Roman military camps. Further prospecting then confirmed a second Roman camp in the immediate vicinity. In order not to delay the construction of the bridge on the Taunus side, it was arranged that the LfDH limited itself to an excavation campaign estimated at eight months. The ten-person excavation team, under the direction of the responsible area officer and district archaeologist Sabine Schade-Lindig and the local excavation management of Jessica Meyer, began its work on April 10, 2012. In order to be able to complete the archaeological excavation by November 2012, the team worked among everyone Weather conditions 40 hours a week.

On September 20, 2012, a press conference on the state of the excavation was held by HesseARCHAEOLOGY, the State Office for Monument Preservation and Hessen Mobil - Road and Traffic Management, in the presence of the State Parliament member Matthias Büger and Limburg's Mayor Martin Richard .

According to the regional representative for West Hesse from Hessen Mobil , Willi Kunze, these cultural monuments would not have been found without the replacement of the bridge . The state authority for monument preservation lacks the financial means to carry out such work. In Limburg, the total cost of the archaeological work was 900,000 euros. The eight-month excavation period did not lead to any delay in the construction project. According to Egon Schallmayer, the present case shows once again that the early Roman history of Germany, more precisely: the transition period between the Celts, the Germanic and the Romans, still needs further research.

Findings and dating

Pre-Roman

First, a small hamlet-like settlement from the Neolithic Age with at least eight house floor plans was uncovered in the southern end of the building area . Finds from the work pits, mainly broken pieces of pots, came from around 5000 BC. BC, the Middle Neolithic . They are thus the oldest traces of settlement in the Limburg area that have been discovered to date and complement the results of an archaeological excavation from 2011 on the " Greifenberg " to the west above Limburg an der Lahn; remains of a fortified hilltop settlement of the Michelsberg culture between 4400 and 3500 BC were found here. Above and next to the Neolithic settlement were three circular trenches of Bronze Age burial mounds , the burials of which, often in the middle, were unfortunately destroyed in the course of time due to agricultural use.

Evidence of the Iron Age is the rare find of a coin known as the so-called dancing man . This Celtic silver quinine was made between 65 and 40 BC. BC minted among other things in the Heidetränk-Oppidum near Oberursel in the Taunus, but was probably still in circulation much longer as a means of payment. It fits in with the excavation finds from Limburg Domberg from 2009. These and other finds from 1989 suggest a Celtic settlement on the Domberg.

Early Roman military camp

In the case of Limburg, there are two directly adjacent, differently sized Roman fortifications. According to evidence of the limited range of finds, in particular of Roman shoe nails , they date to the time of Caesar and thus represent the first archaeological evidence of the presence of the Roman general in Germania on the right bank of the Rhine.

The older camp ( camp I ) covers an area of ​​ten hectares and thus offered space for around 2500 to 3000 soldiers. A scheduled evacuation of the camp can be assumed with some certainty. That the location for the construction of camp I was chosen with care is shown by the fact that a few years later camp II was built in the immediate vicinity above the Lahn . It had an area of ​​around four hectares and was designed for an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 soldiers.

According to the Hessian state archaeologist Egon Schallmayer , the military camps and the large units stationed here, probably a combination of various Roman legions , were a demonstration of Roman power. The defense of both military camps consisted of earth walls and pointed ditches . The excavators showed that they were still several meters deep.

For the actual dating, parts of Roman amphorae for wine could be used. According to the Heinrich Dressel category system , they correspond to the “Dressel 1” type, which corresponds to a use from the Caesarian to the Augustan period. A more precise classification of the vessels is not possible due to the lack of the decisive amphora rim. The decisive clue for a more exact dating, however, was formed by the aforementioned shoe nails, which, due to their relatively short-term use, clearly point to the era of Caesar.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the first time Roman castles of Gaius Julius Caesar in Hesse recorded. hessenARCHEOLOGY ( online )
  2. ↑ Unexpectedly early Roman military camp discovered during archaeological excavations in the area of ​​the new bridge structure of the A3 near Limburg. hessenARCHEOLOGY ( online )
  3. ↑ Cf. Egon Eichhorn: On the topography of the medieval highways and country roads to and in the Limburg basin . In: Nassauische Annalen Vol. 76, 1965.
  4. ↑ Peter Paul Schweitzer: Craich or Limburg Celtic origins ( Memento of 11 June 2007 at the Internet Archive ) . In the S. (Ed.): About the origin of landscape, place and place names in the Lahn area
  5. ↑ Lecture: Caesar on the Lahn? . In: Gießener Zeitung of January 22, 2013
  6. ↑ Cf. “Construction of the motorway bridge near Limburg 1937-1939 (9), 1937 (excerpt)”. Historical image documents from Hessen. (As of March 8, 2011). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  7. ↑ See "Construction of the motorway bridge near Limburg 1937-1939 (31), 1938-1939". Historical image documents from Hessen. (As of March 8, 2011). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
  8. ↑ See Lina Müller: Stone Age finds on Hammerberg near Limburg . In: Westerwälder Schauinsland 30, 1937
  9. ↑ Cf. Der Greifenberg near Limburg ( Memento from November 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) on the pages on the “Michelsberg Culture” project of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM); accessed on March 31, 2013
  10. ^ Robert G. Eberle: Domberg already inhabited in pre-Christian times? Archaeologists: Interesting finds from excavations in Limburg an der Lahn / Diocese shows video on the Internet. Layered history on Toompea under the magnifying glass. Archaeologists examine finds - Diocese of Limburg shows video of excavations . Press release of the Diocese of Limburg from July 7th, 2009.
  11. ↑ For the first time Roman castles of Gaius Julius Caesar in Hesse recorded. hessenARCHEOLOGY ( online )
  12. ↑ For the first time Roman castles of Gaius Julius Caesar in Hesse recorded. hessenARCHEOLOGY ( online )

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 '0.2 "  N , 8 ° 4' 59.3"  E