Brüggen-Oebel pottery center

In the medieval pottery center of Brüggen-Oebel , about 2 kilometers west of the center of Brüggen in the district of Viersen in North Rhine-Westphalia , accumulations of ceramic fragments cover the fields south of the spoil heaps, which are a result of the clay mining that continues in Brüggen to this day.

Excavation findings

In 1995 an exploratory excavation was carried out in the area designated as a ground monument , with the focus on the detection of pottery kilns . After peeling off the surface layer, it turned out that the excavation area was interspersed with clay extraction pits, which were filled with ash, false fires , broken ceramics and the remains of former furnace domes . Some pits are likely to have served for the preparation and leaning of the pottery clay. The remains of two fireplaces of former pottery kilns with the working pits in front were found between the pits, which were up to 2.3 m deep. Since the furnaces were lying on the ground, the combustion chambers were located slightly upstream, below the combustion chambers, whereby only the lower-lying structural elements were preserved.

Pottery

The ceramics are earthenware and almost stoneware, which, in contrast to the porous earthenware, is characterized by the partial glazing of the surface. Earthenware and almost stoneware were partially covered with a red clay coating. Developed stoneware was not found.

to form

When it comes to vessel shapes, jugs and jugs come to the fore, and they are often decorated with circular wheel decorations. There are also spherical pots (cooking pots) and Elmpter amphorae , which were used as storage vessels. Cups, bottles and bowls were relatively rare. The special forms include a fire hood, a highly porous mortar, a candle holder and a bowl-like lid with a handle. A fragment of a horse's head with a long neck belongs to the children's toy segment. The material belongs to the second half of the 13th century, as comparisons with Schinveld in Limburg and Siegburg show.

context

Traces of the pottery trade typical of the Rhineland in the Middle Ages can be found in high quantity and quality. The oldest evidence shows four Carolingian pottery kilns that were excavated in Bornheim-Walberberg (Rhein-Sieg district). Two kilns from Siegburg (Rhein-Sieg district) date from the 12th and early 13th centuries. In a pottery furnace from the 15th to 16th centuries in Rheinbach-Flerzheim in the Rhein-Sieg district, a metal vessel and a balaclava (sallet) were discovered. Six kilns were excavated in Frechen in the Erftkreis , one of which was well preserved, measuring 6 m in length and around 3 m in width. Stoneware was burned in it around 1600.

literature

R. Schreg: Ceramics of the 9th to 12th Century on the Rhine - Research Perspectives for Production and Everyday Life. In: H. Pantermehl, L. Grunwald, R. Schreg (eds.): High medieval ceramics on the Rhine. Research perspectives on production and everyday life. Meetings of the RGZM 13 (Mainz 2012), pp. 1–19.

Individual evidence

↑ The term “fast stoneware” is not entirely clear in the specialist literature. At the beginning of the 13th century, further development of the kiln enabled higher firing temperatures to be achieved (approx. 1150–1200 ° C). This allowed the clay particles to partially fuse together. The fusion (sintering) was not yet complete, but it already ensured that the vessel walls were almost impermeable to water and that they were more resistant to breakage.

51.24518 6.16089Coordinates: 51 ° 14 ′ 42.6 " N , 6 ° 9 ′ 39.2" E

[1] The term “fast stoneware” is not entirely clear in the specialist literature. At the beginning of the 13th century, further development of the kiln enabled higher firing temperatures to be achieved (approx. 1150–1200 ° C). This allowed the clay particles to partially fuse together. The fusion (sintering) was not yet complete, but it already ensured that the vessel walls were almost impermeable to water and that they were more resistant to breakage.