Treasure find from Weißenburg
With treasure trove of White Castle (also Roman temple treasure of White Castle ) is a treasure in 1979 in the discovery of White Castle in Bavaria (the ancient Biriciana ) m south in gardening 70 of the Roman Baths of White Castle called. It contained silver votive sheets , bronze statuettes and vessels, pieces of parade armor and iron implements. The inventory suggests that it was largely the inventory of a temple.
Find history
A teacher from Weißenburg wanted to expand an asparagus patch in his garden on October 19, 1979. At a depth of about 30–40 cm he came across metal vessels and parts of an iron folding chair, which he initially thought were junk. When he came across more bronze vessels and statuettes as he went down, he quickly realized what he had found. The pit was unprofessionally gutted with the help of family members and the city archivist who had been summoned, whereby some smaller finds were overlooked. A report to the competent monument authority , in this case the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation , was not made until November 1st.
At this point in time, the find was already made public through a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung , but the state office was initially refused information about the find and the find's situation. It was not until November 6 that the photos could be viewed and the site briefly inspected. From November 12th to 14th, a follow-up examination was finally carried out at the site in the garden. In the meantime, the finds were stored in a bank safe without any necessary conservation treatment.
After the authorities were unable to obtain the find in accordance with Article 9 of the Bavarian Monument Protection Act for a limited period of time for recording and documentation, the State Office had to apply for entry as a movable monument in the list of monuments on December 17, 1979 . The situation came to a head at the turn of 1979/1980, when it was feared that the treasure would be transported abroad. Therefore, in January 1980, an application was made to the Bavarian State Ministry for Education and Culture for protection against the migration of German cultural assets abroad.
It was only in March 1980 that it was possible to study the finds in more detail. Finally, on April 22, 1980, a purchase price was reached with the finder. At the same time, it was decided to set up the Roman Museum Weissenburg as a branch museum of the Prehistoric State Collection , today the Archaeological State Collection , to display the important find . The iron finds were badly corroded when they were found, the bronze objects covered with a patina . The restoration in a reasonable time frame in the workshops of the State Collection was not possible alone. Some more difficult objects were therefore restored in the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz.
Find situation
The follow-up investigation made it possible to reconstruct a rectangular pit (1.6–1.8 × 0.4–0.6 m) at the site. It reached about 0.65–0.75 m below today's surface, of which about 30 cm was made up of the usual humus layer. The pit was sunk into a Roman layer of rubble with remains of mortar and limestone fragments. Its rectangular shape and the partially dense storage of the finds in it suggest a wooden box, of which nothing has been preserved.
The rubble layer possibly served to camouflage the treasure, which was probably buried outdoors in the immediate vicinity of buildings in the Weißenburger Vicus . Several buildings and a fountain have been found in the area.
content
The Weißenburg treasure trove consists of 114 individual pieces. They are made up as follows:
- 18 bronze statuettes, depictions of gods
- 10 figural bronzes, some of which cannot be identified
- 11 silver votives
- 3 bronze face helmets
- 1 iron occiput helmet
- 20 bronze vessels
- 18 bronze fittings
- 33 iron devices, including a folding chair and a speed scale
Parade helmet.
Bronze jug with figural decoration on the attachment
silver votive sheet with Hercules depiction
Bronze sieve
Folding iron chair
Bronze fittings
Importance of the find
The closeness of the find and especially the statuettes of gods and votive sheets suggest that it is not a metal hoard that was found by chance . Some peculiarities, including dedications to Epona on the bronze vessels, also indicate that it is not a normal household appliance. The composition thus clearly stands out from unequivocally looted property such as the hoard from Neupotz . Rather, the find seems to be similar to the hoard of Mauer near Amstetten in Austria, which can be relatively clearly addressed as a temple inventory. Apparently, in the face of imminent danger, the valuable objects were hidden from approaching enemies ( custody discovery ).
The time when the Weißenburg treasure was deposited is between 233 and 254, with a higher probability as early as 233, when the nearby Weißenburg thermal baths - very likely in connection with the Germanic incursions into the Roman border provinces that year - were destroyed. The latest coin find from Weißenburg is a hoard from the year 254 AD on the via principalis of the fort. This year is recorded as the latest date for the so-called " Limesfall " at several forts in the Raetian Limes .
Trivia
The treasure trove inspired the Franconian writer Josef Carl Grund to write the novel Feuer am Limes , which was published in 1983. The book for young people is set in Biriciana at the time of the Roman emperor Decius (249 to 251 AD) and describes the circumstances under which the Roman treasure could have been hidden.
literature
- Hans-Jörg Kellner , Gisela Zahlhaas: The Roman treasure find from Weissenburg. 3rd extended edition, Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 1997, ISBN 3-7954-1104-1 ( Exhibition Guide Prehistoric State Collection Munich . 2).
- Hans-Jörg Kellner, Gisela Zahlhaas: The Roman temple treasure of Weißenburg i. Bay. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1513-9 .
- Bernd Steidl : The Weißenburg treasure trove and the end of the Raetian Limes. In: Vera Rupp , Heide Birley (Hrsg.): Country life in Roman Germany. Theiss, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-8062-2573-0 , pp. 89f.
- Bernd Steidl: Limes and Roman treasure. Weissenburg Roman Museum. Likias, Friedberg 2019, ISBN 978-3-9820130-0-8 (exhibition catalogs of the State Archaeological Collection, 41).
- Ludwig Wamser : The Roman treasure find from Weißenburg - a "temple treasure". In L. Wamser: Biriciana - Weißenburg in Roman times. 2nd Edition. Theiss, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8062-0323-7 , pp. 82-87 ( Guide to archaeological monuments in Bavaria: Franconia . 1).
Web links
- Hercules - 3D model of the statuette in the culture portal bavarikon
- Jupiter - 3D model of the statuette in the culture portal bavarikon
- Juno - 3D model of the statuette in the culture portal bavarikon
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Jörg Kellner, Gisela Zahlhaas: The Roman temple treasure of Weißenburg i. Bay. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, pp. 5–11 (on the history of the find).
- ↑ Information from Hans-Jörg Kellner, Gisela Zahlhaas: The Roman temple treasure of Weißenburg i. Bay. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, p. 23.
- ↑ Rudolf Noll: The inventory of the Dolichenus sanctuary of Mauer an der Url (Noricum). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1980 ( The Roman Limes in Austria. 30).
- ↑ Marcus Reuter : The end of the Raetian Limes in the year 254 AD. In: Bavarian prehistory sheets 72, 2007, pp. 77-149.