Settlement Chamber Bliesbruck-Reinheim

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The settlement chamber of Bliesbruck-Reinheim extends from the Saarland community of Gersheim - Reinheim im Bliesgau , on the German side, to the French community of Bliesbruck . The catchment area of ​​the settlement chamber had, in Gallo-Roman times , a radius of about 10 kilometers. Through archaeological finds a continuous settlement from the late Bronze Age to the older Merovingian period could be proven. One of the most famous finds of the settlement chamber is the princess grave of Reinheim , discovered in 1954 , a Roman vicus with around 2,000 inhabitants and a Roman palace villa . Part of the settlement chamber is now part of the European Bliesbruck-Reinheim cultural park . Systematic excavations have been carried out in the area since the 1970s.

Location and geology

The settlement chamber is located in a valley widening of the Blies between the German community Gersheim-Reinheim and the French community Bliesbruck and belongs to the area of ​​the Bliesgau in the southeastern Saarland. The valley floor lies in the lower shell limestone, which is covered by gravelly and sandy deposits. There are layers of red sandstone underneath. The plateaus of the settlement chamber lie in the upper shell limestone. The geographical center is an elevation of approx. 27 hectares called Homerich with an approx. 5 hectare high plateau.

Excavation history

The first finds have been handed down as early as 1760. The first official excavations were carried out on the area between 1806 and 1809. The princess grave of Reinheim was discovered during sand mining in 1954 and two other tumuli belonging to this necropolis were discovered during excavations until 1957 . Further finds in the 1970s then led to rescue excavations that lasted until 1979. This was followed by research excavations , in the course of which, among other things, a Roman vicus with thermal baths and craftsmen's quarter and a Roman palace villa were uncovered. In 1989 , the cross-border European cultural park Bliesbruck-Reinheim was founded under the sponsorship of the Saarpfalz district and the Moselle department . The research and excavation work continues to this day.

Settlement history

Through archaeological finds on the related to the settlement chamber Bliesbruck-Reinheim corridors is a continuous settlement history (century BC 13 v..) Can be from the late Bronze Age on the Hallstatt period , the Latènezeit and Roman times to the older Merovingian period (7th century. Chr.) Prove. In particular, the cemetery in Reinheim, discovered in 1999 in the corridor Auf dem Sand , is evidence of this continuous settlement. There, based on grave finds, a continuous occupancy from approx. 800 BC. Proven until 500 AD. An extrapolation based on the number of graves found in an area of ​​200 m 2 showed that around 2,500 burials per hectare can be expected on the area of ​​several hectares. The radius of the catchment area of ​​the settlement chamber was about 10 km in Gallo-Roman times.

Paleolithic Mesolithic and Neolithic

In the late Bronze Age settlement area on the Blies, finds from the Mesolithic period (10,000 to 5500 BC) were made. These are individual finds of stone age tools. During excavations on the Homerich in 2009, several cylindrical pits were found. Based on the location and the existing chert deposits and their similarity to Stone Age chert mines, it can be assumed that these are Stone Age quarries. Corresponding settlement traces of houses or graves could not yet be proven. The finds, however, show that people were already active in the settlement chamber at this time.

Bronze Age, Hallstatt and Latène Ages

Along the banks of the Blies, in the area of ​​today's cultural park, a Late Bronze Age settlement area was found, which is followed by a Late Bronze Age burial ground. Various traces of settlement were found during the investigation. The settlement chamber was on the prehistoric Duser long-distance trade route, which led from eastern France to the Middle Rhine region and on which goods and above all salt were transported from France. This road and the exchange of goods via the Rhine and Nahe made far-reaching trade relationships possible. Trade relationships as far as the Koblenz area can be proven on the basis of finds as early as the Hallstatt period. Further finds document trade relations as far as Baden-Württemberg , the Baltic Sea region , central France and the Mediterranean region. The finds from the rich princess grave of Reinheim, which was found in a small necropolis on the so-called Katzenbuckel, prove these extraordinary trade relations also for the early La Tène period. Individual findings demonstrate that the local craftsmen with the beginning of the Iron Age already the techniques of brazing of iron and the production of gold shiny surfaces in the tinning of bronze objects were known. They also already mastered the technology of three-layer welded joints in the manufacture of iron swords. Finds from all of the above periods as well as the fact of the uninterrupted settlement show the settlement chamber as a center of power with far-reaching trade relations. This outstanding role of the Bliesbruck-Reinheim settlement chamber is also underpinned by coin finds. Two bronze coins were found during the Gersheim Pfuhlfeld excavations . Both coins come from the Mediterranean area. One from Sicily (330 to 310 BC) and one from Campania (265 to 240 BC), which were minted there by the Carthaginians . The coins found in the Late Celtic Round Shrine in Horres , some of which were deposited there as building sacrifices , do not appear in this region, or only rarely. In 2006, excavations revealed the remains of Celtic settlements at the foot of the Homerich on an area of ​​20 hectares. Near the necropolis of the Katzenbuckels eight other burial mounds from the Hallstatt and Early and Middle La Tène periods have been found in the Almend and Auf dem Sand corridors . In a rich cremation grave of a woman, which dates back to about 270 BC. The remains of a bronze rod link chain were also found. This and other graves found within sight of Homerich allow the conclusion that the Bliesbruck-Reinheim settlement chamber was a so-called prince's seat of a rich Celtic ruling class from the late Hallstatt period to the late Latène period and the beginning of Roman settlement over a period of 500 years , with extensive ownership of land, can be accepted.

Roman time

The settlement activities continued especially during the Roman settlement, which is particularly evident in the vicus with the craftsmen's quarter and thermal bath, which had around 2000 inhabitants and was the center of the settlement chamber. A special social position is to be assigned to the owners of the Roman villa . This is supported not only by the area of ​​the villa of approx. 5,600 m 2 , which included 12 extensions and a courtyard area of ​​more than 44,000 m 2 , but also the parade mask found in the villa and a statue of the goddess Fortuna . This and the location of the villa, right near the burial mound of the necropolis with the princess' grave, as well as the right to settle outside the vicus could be an indication of a possible legal succession of the owners of the villa with regard to the Celtic ruling class. During the time of Roman settlement, further villas and settlements were built in the catchment area. Around the middle of the 3rd century AD, the settlement chamber experienced its heyday. Then two phases of destruction follow. The first phase around AD 260 and the second phase around AD 275. Both the surrounding area and the settlement chamber itself were affected by this destruction. For the settlement chamber, the destruction in the vicus can be archaeologically proven, the western quarter of which was almost completely destroyed during the first phase, while the eastern quarter suffered severe destruction during the second phase. From the end of the third century AD to the middle of the 4th century AD, there was a slow decline in Roman settlement activities. Many estates were still used and buildings in the settlement chamber were repaired again, but no longer in stone, but in clay and wood. The Roman villa of Erfweiler-Ehlingen , which was completely rebuilt, is an exception . For the period of the Alemanni invasion around AD 352 and the associated unrest that lasted until around AD 361, finds in the settlement chamber show that settlement activities almost completely came to a standstill. The Roman vicus may even have been completely abandoned. For the following time, settlement activities can again be demonstrated in the settlement chamber. Finds show that there were also trade relations with other provinces and that there was a certain degree of prosperity again. Corresponding coin finds permit this conclusion. Finds of militaria indicate that the military may have been in the settlement chamber. Particularly noteworthy is the discovery of a "Hunnic" arrowhead. Based on the finds, it can also be assumed that the Germans and Burgundians settled in the settlement chamber during this period. Archaeological evidence for the period from the middle of the 5th century AD to the 6th century AD is missing.

Merovingian period

At the beginning of the 6th century AD, settlement by the Franks began. Numerous finds of graves within the settlement chamber as well as in the surrounding area, z. B. the 115 graves cemetery in Altheim Am Kopp , prove this. The finds of gold disc brooches from women's graves in Gersheim, Bliesbruck and Altheim prove that there were also important families of the Merovingian nobility among them . In addition, an aristocratic grave from the 2nd half of the 7th century AD was found on the Homerich plateau in 2007. A horse grave also belonged to this grave, in which four horses and two dogs were buried. The vicus from Roman times can be postulated as the original residence of the deceased. Apart from the graves, there are no more traces of the Franconian settlements today, as the places were repeatedly built over and continued to be used in the following centuries. The Franconian place names, which in Bliesgau mostly end in -ingen and -heim, have been preserved. What is striking in Bliesgau is that two villages are often close to each other. There is always a combination of an -ing or -heim-place with a -weiler-place. It can be assumed that the places that end in -weiler emerged in the early Middle Ages as daughter places of the older villages, when they became too small for the growing population. If you look at the large number of places and local groups that still exist today in the Bliesgau with these names, you can see how sustainable the Franconian settlement is to this day.

Archaeological sites in the settlement chamber

place Hall description
Bebelsheim Mandelbachtal Forest Middle Bronze Age burial mound
Bliesbruck railway station roman cemetery
Bliesbruck Les Champs Roman settlement area
Bliesbruck Stone fields Roman vicus
Bliesbruck Merovingian cemetery
Blies-Ébersing Chapel forest Burial mound group
Blies-Ébersing Merovingian cemetery
Gersheim Big field Late Bronze Age cemetery
Gersheim Hardt Tumulus group
Gersheim Milletzel Merovingian cemetery
Gersheim Pfuhlfeld roman cemetery
Habkirchen At the Hamm Hallstatt burial mound group
Habkirchen Merovingian cemetery
Niedergailbach In the eye gardens Hallstatt burial mound group
Niedergailbach Brückerberg Hallstatt burial mound group
Niedergailbach Lock Merovingian cemetery
Niedergailbach Wallringen Desolation
Reinheim Commons Late Hallstatt to Middle Latène group of burial mounds; roman cemetery; roman villa; Roman temple of Venus
Reinheim On the sand Late Hallstatt to Middle Latène group of burial mounds; roman cemetery
Reinheim Spellwood Hallstatt burial mound group
Reinheim Furtweg Bronze to Middle Latène Age group of burial mounds; roman villa, roman cemetery
Reinheim High forest Middle Bronze Age burial mound
Reinheim Homerich prehistoric shafts; Roman mountain sanctuary; Late Merovingian cemetery, Late Merovingian nobility grave with horse grave
Reinheim Horres Celtic burial mounds Horres ; Late Celtic Round Shrine Horres ; Roman settlement area with villa
Reinheim Cat hump Late Hallstatt to Middle La Tène group of burial mounds (Celtic princess grave of Reinheim)
Reinheim Ober Briicker Trischer Roman pronaos temple
Reinheim Easter meadow Late Bronze Age hoard find
Reinheim Willmannsstein Jupiter giant column

literature

  • Dieter Dorda (Hrsg.), Olaf Kühne (Hrsg.), Volker Wild (Hrsg.): Der Bliesgau. Nature and landscape in the southeastern Saarland. Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, 2006, ISBN 978-3923877423 .
  • Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 .
  • Walter Reinhard: Celts, Romans and Germanic tribes in Bliesgau (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 3). Bliesbruck-Reinheim European Cultural Park Foundation, Gersheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811591-2-7 .
  • Walter Reinhard: The Celts in Saarland (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 8). Ministry of Education and Culture - Landesdenkmalamt, 2017, ISBN 978-3-927856-21-9 , p.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jochen Kubiniok: From the natural to the cultural landscape. The Bliesgau and the Bliesbruck-Reinheim settlement chamber. In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special Issue No. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 108–113.
  2. ^ A b Walter Reinhard: The Prince's Seat of Reinheim In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 13-14.
  3. ^ Jean-Paul Petit: Bliesbruck-Reinheim. From a rescue excavation to the European Culture Park In: Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special Issue No. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 4–7.
  4. ↑ Walter Reinhard: The princely seat of Reinheim In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue No. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , p. 8.
  5. ^ Walter Reinhard: 1000 years of the cemetery in Bliesbruck-Reinheim. In: Ministry for the Environment - Landesdenkmalamt (Hrsg.): Preservation of monuments in Saarland (= annual report 2006 ). Merziger Druckerei und Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 2006, ISSN  1863-687X , p. 17. ( online )
  6. ↑ Andreas Stinsky : Landscape archaeological investigations on Roman settlement in the area around Bliesbruck-Reinheim - a preliminary report. In: Archeology in the Greater Region (= Archäologentage Otzenhausen. Volume 1). European Academy Otzenhausen, 2015, ISBN 978-3-941509-12-2 , p. 189. ( online )
  7. ^ Emil Hoffmann: Old Paleolithic sites in Bliesgau (Saarpfalz district). Books on Demand, 2009, ISBN 978-3837052732 , p. 22. ( limited preview in Google book search)
  8. ^ Walter Reinhard: First flint mining in Saarland on the Homerich von Reinheim? In: Ministry for the Environment - Landesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Preservation of monuments in Saarland (= annual report 2009. Volume 8). Verlag, 2009, ISSN  1863-687X , pp. 34-37. ( online )
  9. ^ Walter Reinhard: Far-reaching trade relations and techniques for the early Bronze Age. In: The Celts in Saarland (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 8). Ministry of Education and Culture - Landesdenkmalamt, 2017, ISBN 978-3-927856-21-9 , pp. 298–302.
  10. ↑ David Wigg-Wolf: Two rare coins from Gersheim . In: Walter Reinhard: Celts, Romans and Teutons in Bliesgau (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 3). Foundation European Cultural Park Bliesbruck-Reinheim, Gersheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811591-2-7 , p. 50.
  11. ↑ David Wigg-Wolf: Foreign coins for the gods. In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 38–39
  12. ↑ Walter Reinhard: Other Celtic princely graves in the princess' necropolis? . In: Celts, Romans and Germanic tribes in Bliesgau (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 3). Bliesbruck-Reinheim European Cultural Park Foundation, Gersheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811591-2-7 , pp. 201–202.
  13. ↑ Walter Reinhard: Owner of the Roman villa a legal successor to the princess? . In: Celts, Romans and Germanic tribes in Bliesgau (= preservation of monuments in Saarland. Volume 3). Foundation European Cultural Park Bliesbruck-Reinheim, Gersheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811591-2-7 , p. 215.
  14. ^ A b Sonia Antonelli, Jean-Paul Petit: Change in late antiquity. The slow decline of the small town of Bliesbruck and its surroundings In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue No. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , p. 8.
  15. ^ Joachim Henning: A Hunnic arrowhead from Bliesbruck. In: Jean-Paul Petit (Ed.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 94–99
  16. ^ Walter Reinhard: The Bliesgau in the Merovingian period In: Jean-Paul Petit (Hrsg.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 100-103.
  17. ^ Walter Reinhard: A late Merovingian noble grave in Reinheim In: Jean-Paul Petit (Hrsg.): Bliesbruck-Reinheim. Celts, Romans and Franks in Lorraine and Saarland (= Dossiers d'Archéologie. Special issue no. 24), ÉDITIONS FATON, 2013, ISSN  1141-7137 , pp. 106-107.
  18. ^ Heinz Quasten: Settlement development in the Bliesgau region. In: Dieter Dorda (Hrsg.), Olaf Kühne (Hrsg.), Volker Wild (Hrsg.): Der Bliesgau. Nature and landscape in the southeastern Saarland. Institute for Regional Studies in Saarland, 2006, ISBN 978-3923877423 . Pp. 125-129.